Voice-controlled wireless communications system and method

ABSTRACT

A wireless communication system has a central computer, one or more wireless access points and one or more personal badges that communicate wirelessly with the one or more wireless access points. The badges provide the user with a communications device that permits the user to initiate telephone calls and conferences, receive telephone calls, receive pages and be located within a particular environment.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/070,336, filed on Mar. 1, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/231,720 filed on Aug. 30, 2002 (now U.S.Pat. No. 6,892,083 issued on May 10, 2005), which is a continuation inpart (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/947,235 filed on Sep.5, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,901,255 issued on May 31, 2005) and claimspriority to all applications under 35 USC § 120. All of the theseapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

APPENDICES

Attached hereto are: 1) Appendix A (15 pages) containing the userprofile database record; and 2) Appendix B (10 pages) containing thesystem information database record.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a system and method for providingwireless communications between individuals and in particular to asystem and method that uses lightweight wireless devices thatcommunicate with one or more access points which in turn connect to atypical communications/computer network.

Various different wireless communication devices are well known and forma large part of our everyday lives. Examples of the well known wirelesscommunication devices include cellular phones from variousmanufacturers, wireless e-mail systems, such as the Research in Motion(RIM) wireless e-mail devices that include personal informationmanagement features and capabilities, pages and other wireless accessdevices, such as Palm-type handheld devices that permit e-mail orInternet access.

These well known wireless communication devices provide an expandingrange of capabilities. For example, when originally introduced, cellularphones provided only wireless telephone access and the clarity of thecellular phone calls was not clear. Recently, the next generation ofcellular phones were introduced (2 G handsets) that provided limitedInternet access so that, for example, a user may browse the World WideWeb as one might do with a typical desktop computer. The level ofaccess, however, was very limited and unsatisfactory. These cellularphones typically provided some browsing capability, but nothing else dueto various limitations including small display screen size and limitedbandwidth connections. Recently, the next generation of cellular phones(2.5 G and 3 G handsets) are being introduced which allegedly willprovide greater bandwidth connections that will enable the same level offunctionality as is provided to a desktop computer.

Thus, these devices permit the integration of telephony functions withthe functions of a web browser. Even the smallest cellular phones,however, are still fairly bulky and difficult to have available at alltimes, such as clipped to the shirt pocket of the user. The cellularphones also still do not have reliable communications since thefootprint of the cells for the cellular phones is still being expandedto provide better coverage. However, none of these systems providewireless, lightweight communications system that is voice activated anddriven. Some known cellular phones provide some limitedvoice-recognition capability, such as to dial a phone number based on aname of a person, but do not provide a wide breadth of voice-activatedfunctions in small, lightweight package. Thus, it is desirable toprovide a voice-activated and driven wireless communications system. Itwould be desirable to provide a lightweight, highly portable user devicethat permits the user to interact with the system.

Most current wireless communication devices are not easy to usehands-free devices so that they, therefore, require the user to use hishands to hold and operate the device. Some cellular phones provide handsfree units that permit the user to talk on the cellular phone withouthaving to hold the cellular phone during the conversation. However, evenwith the hands free unit, the user must still dial the phone number orspeak the phone number to initiate the call. Typically, to answer acall, the user must press a button. Thus, it is desirable to provide avoice-controlled wireless communications system that overcomes thelimitations and drawbacks of typical wireless systems and it is to thisend that the present invention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A voice-controlled wireless communications system is provided. Thesystem may comprise a small, portable, lightweight user device for eachuser, one or more access points with which each user devicecommunicates, and a central computer system that controls thecommunications wherein the central computer and the one or more accesspoints are connected together by a typical computer/communicationsnetwork, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN)or another similar network. In a preferred embodiment, the system maycomprise a badge for each user, one or more access points that arespaced appropriately and one or more server computers that control thecommunications. In more detail, each badge is a battery poweredtransceiver that is capable of communicating with an adjacent accesspoint in order to perform various different desirable functions,including calling another user, calling an outside person, receiving acall from a user or third party, determining the location of a user ofthe system, configuring the communications system, receiving a page froma third party and many others that are described in more detail below.Each badge has very limited computing power so that the bulk of theprocessing to execute the one or more commands of the user areimplemented by the server and the badge operates as an access devicethat permits the user to access the functions and capabilities of theserver as described below. Each access point has some limitedcommunications range and can handle some predetermined number of activebadges (an active badge is a badge that is currently actively engaged ina communication with the server or a third party). Thus, for apredetermined area, such as a office building or office complex, thereare a plurality of access points that are spaced apart from each otherso that all locations in the entire building/complex are within range ofat least one access point. To permit handoff between the differentaccess points, the coverage of each access point may overlap thecoverage of another access point so that the communications session of abadge that is moving between coverage of different access points is notdropped. Since the badges are lightweight and do not have sufficientcomputer power to perform various functions, the server performs thosefunctions, such as voice recognition and executing the various desirablefunctions of the wireless communications system in accordance with theinvention.

Now, to briefly explain the operation of the system, an example of theexecution of one command will be described. For example, to place a callto a third party or another user of the wireless communications system,the user may activate his badge and may receive a prompt indicating thatthe server is ready to handle the user's requests. The user may then saya voice command, such as “Call Rob Shostak”, into the badge that recordsthe voice command in digital form and communicates the digital datacorresponding to the voice command to the server through the accesspoint. The server may then interpret the voice command. Once the voicecommand is interpreted, the server may execute the appropriate functionin order to set up a call between the badge user and the Rob. Forexample, the server may look up Rob in its user database to determine ifRob is a user of the system and has a badge. If Rob is a user, then theserver will attempt to locate Rob and then set up a badge to badge call.When the call is established, audio is directed from the badge user, tothe neighboring access point, then the network to the access point towhich Rob's badge is currently associated, through to Rob's badge. Thetwo access points may actually be the same, in which case the middle“leg” through the network backbone is obviated. If Rob is not a user ofthe system, then the server will establish a communications session withRob using Rob's telephone number and then hand over the communicationssession to the badge. When the call is established between the badgeuser and Rob, the communications path is between the badge, through theaccess point, the server, and the PBX, to Rob.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, a wireless communications systemis provided. The wireless communications system comprises a centralcomputer, one or more wireless access points connected to the centralcomputer by a computer network wherein each access point has a coveragearea, and a badge that communicate using a wireless protocol with one ofthe wireless access points that the badge is within the coverage areaof, the badge further comprising a microphone that receives voicecommands and spoken words from a user and a speaker that generatesaudible signals heard by the user. The system permits a telephone callto be initiated by a voice command from the user into the microphone ofthe badge and the telephone call is carried out using the microphone andspeaker of the badge.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a wirelesscommunications unit for hands-free communication with a wirelesscommunications system is provided. The unit comprises a centralprocessing unit that controls the operations of the unit, a microphoneconnected to the central processing unit that receives voice commandsand spoken words from a user and a speaker connected to the centralprocessing unit that generates audible signals heard by the user. Theunit further comprises a wireless transceiver connected to the centralprocessing unit that communicates with the wireless communication systemusing a wireless protocol, and wherein a telephone call is initiated bya voice command from the user into the microphone of the unit and thetelephone call is carried out using the microphone and speaker of theunit.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a method forlocating a user of a wireless communications system wherein the wirelesscommunications system has a central computer connected to one or moreaccess points which communicate wirelessly with one or more badgesassociated with a user is provided. The method comprises receiving arequest to locate a particular user of the wireless communicationssystem, determining the access point currently being used forcommunications by the badge of the particular user, and generating alocation indicator for the particular user wherein the locationindicator is the name and location of the access point being used by theparticular user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a preferred embodiment of thevoice-controlled wireless communications system in accordance with theinvention;

FIGS. 2 a-2 g illustrate a first embodiment of the communications badgein accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 a-3 h illustrate a second embodiment of the communications badgein accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 i is a block diagram illustrating the hardware components of thecommunications badge in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 3 j-3 y illustrate two preferred embodiments of the communicationsbadge in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary access point in accordancewith the invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary server in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates more details of the server shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of the user database in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user/administrator console inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 8A illustrates the badge assignment methods in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 8B is a state diagram illustrating the preferred operating statesof a communications badge in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing a badge tobadge communications session in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 10 is a state diagram illustrating the preferred call states of thewireless communications system;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a preferred menu organization for thebadge in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a menu state table showing thetransitions between the various menus states.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention is particularly applicable to a voice-controlled wirelesscommunications system that uses Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11 as acommunications protocol and a Ethernet communications/computer networkand it is in this context that the invention will be described. It willbe appreciated, however, that the voice-controlled wirelesscommunications system in accordance with the invention has greaterutility since it can be implemented using various differentcommunication protocols and various different computer networks.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a preferred embodiment of thevoice-controlled wireless communications system 30 in accordance withthe invention. In particular, the system comprises a plurality ofwireless user badges (B1-B6 in this example) 32, one or more wirelessaccess points (AP) 34 and one or more central computers (VS) 36, such asa server computer, as shown. In this figure, a local area networkwireless communications system is shown that permits communicationbetween badges in the same building wherein the access points 34 and theserver 36 are connected to each other and communicate with each otherover a communications/computer network 38 which may be a local areaEthernet network. The voice-controlled wireless communications system,however, is not limited to being implemented using a LAN since it mayalso be implemented using any other type of computer network. Forexample, for a large company with multiple buildings, a company widevoice-controlled wireless communications system may be provided whereinthe building may be interconnected using a wide area network (WAN),there may be a central computer 36 located at each building whichcommunicates with other central computers over the WAN, and eachbuilding may have a LAN with a central computer 36, one or more accesspoints 34 and a plurality of badges 32. In a preferred embodiment, thecomputer network may be an Ethernet based network, the central computer36 may be a typical server computer with additional features describedbelow, each access point 34 may be a wireless access point that uses aparticular wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth or the IEEE 802.11standard and the wireless badges 32 are capable of communicating withthe access points using the particular protocol. Thus, if the accesspoints are implemented using the Bluetooth protocol, then the badgeswill have Bluetooth transceivers or if the access points are implementedusing the IEEE 802.11 standard, then the badges will have 802.11compliant transceivers.

Returning to the system shown in FIG. 1, a voice-controlled wirelesscommunications system is shown that has a primary central computer 36and a backup central computer (shown in phantom) that are both connectedto the computer network 38. Each central computer 36 may also beconnected to a telephone system 39, such as the public branch exchangesystem (PBX) and voicemail (VM) system shown, that permits the server toset up, manage and take down communications sessions between a user ofthe system that has a badge and a third party. Each access point 34 isalso connected to the computer network 38 and communicates with thecentral computers 36 over the computer network. The access points 34each have a limited range of operation/coverage 40, known as a networkneighborhood, as shown. To permit handoff between access points as aperson with a badge moves between different network neighborhoods, thenetwork neighborhoods may preferably overlap to permit handoff withoutdropping a communications session. The access points may communicatewith each badge 32 using a wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth or theIEEE 802.11 standard. In general, each access point is capable ofhandling some maximum number of active badges (e.g., badges that areactively communicating with the central computer or actively engaged ina call with someone) so that more than one access point may be needed ina particular high density area with multiple badges. Each badge 32 is asmall, lightweight, voice-controlled, wireless device that is capable ofcommunicating with an access point. Each badge is preferably powered bya rechargeable battery. In general, each badge is an access device tothe voice-controlled wireless communications system, but does notperform much of the actual processing (other than audio processing whichmay include voice compression and echo cancellation) since theprocessing power of each badge is relatively small. Thus, each badgewill communicate with the central computer 36 through an adjacent accesspoint in order to implement the desired wireless communication functionsthat are described in more detail below.

In operation, a user that wants to initiate a wireless communicationsfunction may activate his/her badge in some manner. The activationcauses an adjacent access point (where the badge is within the networkneighborhood of the access point) to establish a communications sessionwith the particular badge. The user is notified that activation iscomplete and then speaks his command which is received by the badgeusing its microphone and converted into digital data. The based may thencommunicate the digital command data to the access point which in turnsends the digital command data to the central computer 36 over thecomputer network. The server may then analyze the digital command datain order to determine the command issued by the user, such as “Where isPaul Barsley”. If the central computer is able to properly identify thecommand, then it will execute the appropriate instructions to performthe commanded operation. If the central computer cannot properlyinterpret the command, it may request the user to try the command again.In this manner, the user is able, using only his voice, to performvarious wireless communication functions wherein the central computerimplements most of the functions. Now, the badge 32 will be described inmore detail.

FIGS. 2 a-2 g illustrate a first embodiment of the communications badge32 in accordance with the invention, FIG. 3 a-3 h illustrate a preferredembodiment of the communications badge in accordance with the inventionand FIG. 3 i is a block diagram illustrating the hardware components ofthe communications badge in accordance with the invention. Beforedescribing the details of the badge or the different embodiments, ageneral overview of the badge and its operation will be provided. Eachbadge is a portable, battery-powered, lightweight, wireless device thatserves as the primary communications endpoints of the system. The badgessupport hands-free, near full duplex voice communications using a smallmicrophone (situated near the top of the badge as described below) and aspeaker (located near the bottom of the badge as described below). Inaddition to the wireless communications, each badge is preferablycapable of receiving text pages (using a pager receiver as describedbelow) or from an e-mail client in the server 36 or from a browserapplication hosted on the server 36 and may include a display unit (asdescribed below) to, among other things, permit reading of the textpages.

Each badge is only capable of voice communications when it is within thenetwork neighborhood of any access point. The typical range of awireless access point is approximately 35 meters for an indoor accesspoint and approximately 100 meters for an outdoor access point. Thus,when the badge is not within the range of any access point, voicecommands do not work. However, the badge may still be used as a one-waytext pager anywhere within the coverage area of a global pager servicenetwork.

The badges are sufficiently small and lightweight enough so that thebadge may be clipped onto a shirt pocket of the user, may be worn on alanyard around the neck of a user or carried is a holster similar tocellular phone. In a typical environment with typical noise levels,hands-free operation using voice commands requires the badge to besituated approximately 0.5 meters from the mouth of the user so that thevoice commands may be understood by the central computer. Thus, if thebadge is carried in a holster, it may need to be removed from theholster and brought closer to the user's mouth for voice command,hands-free operation. For a semi-private conversation or operation in aloud environment with high noise levels, the badge may be inverted (sothat the speaker is near the user's ear and the microphone is near theuser's mouth) similar to a typical telephone. Optionally, a headphonejack may be provided on the badge. The badge may also include a clip (asdescribed below) that may be used to clip the badge onto a shirt orshirt pocket or may be used to hold a corporate security badge.

The badges may be powered by a renewable energy source, such as areplaceable, rechargeable lithium polymer or lithium ion battery, thatattaches to the back of the badge. The battery may be needed to berecharged each day for voice operation, but it may last longer if thebadge is used for only text functions. The invention, however, is notlimited to any particular energy source and any renewable energy sourcemay be used. The badge may include a charging adapter as an accessoryfor recharging the renewable energy source and the charging adapter maybe a docking station or simply a wall transformer.

Returning to FIG. 3 i, a block diagram of the badge 32 is shown. Eachbadge may include a wireless transceiver 50 and an antennae 52 (that maybe a 100 mw Bluetooth radio transceiver, an appropriate strength IEEE802.11 transceiver or any other wireless transceiver) that is used forwireless communications with the access points 34 or with other badgesas described below. In a preferred embodiment, each badge contains an802.11b transceiver capable of transmitting at approximately 20 dBm (100mW), and receiving with a sensitivity of approximately −85 dBm. Thebadges also contain a DSP engine and voice codec for speech processingand control, a display control processor and LCD display, a lithiumbattery with protection circuitry, an audio amplifier, microphone, andspeaker. Each badge is factory-assigned a unique physical (MAC) address.Each badge may further include a pager receiver 54 and an internalantennae 56 (such as a Motorola FLEX pager receiver and antennae) thatoperates to receive text messages/pages within the coverage of anyglobal paging service network. The antennae for the wirelesstransceiver, in a preferred embodiment, may be built into the clip ofthe badge or may reside completely within the badge. Each badge isassigned a unique wireless device address (so that it can be identifiedby each access point and the central computer) as well as a unique pageraddress, such as a FLEX pager CAP code.

Each badge may further include a central processing unit (CPU) 58 thatcontrols the operation of the badge and each of its components includingthe wireless transceiver 50 and the pager receiver 54 as shown. Forexample, the CPU may also control a microphone 60 and a speaker 62 thatare components of the badge and permit the user of the badge tocommunicate with the central computer 36 using voice commands andreceive voice responses from the central computer 36. The badge mayfurther include a well known non-volatile memory chip (not shown) sothat data stored in the badge (such as settings and messages) are notlost when the badge is powered down. For example, the non-volatilememory device may be a well known flash memory device. The microphoneand speaker may also be used for voice communications with other badgeusers or third parties. The badge may further include an amplifier 64that amplifies the signals provided to/from the microphone and speaker.

The badge 32 may also include a display device 66, such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD), that may be used for various purposes, such asreviewing text messages and pages received by the pager receiver, topermit the user to control the operation of the badge and itsconfiguration using a control menu or to announce the origin of anincoming call. In a preferred embodiment, the display device 66 may be amonochrome dot-matrix display with approximately 32 rows and 60 columns.The display has sufficient resolution to permit four lines ofapproximately fourteen characters per line. In the preferred embodiment,the display device 66 may be situated on the back of the badge (as shownin FIG. 3 c) to protect it from damage and so that it is not normallyvisible without flipping over the badge or removing it from its holster.As described above, the badge may include a renewable energy source 68,such as a removable, rechargeable batter as shown, that may includeprotection and charge management circuitry as is well known to preventover-charging. The badge may further comprise a digital signal processor(DSP) 70 and an audio codec 72 for processing incoming speech from themicrophone and for generating the voice signals generated by thespeaker. For example, the DSP and audio codec are capable of compressingthe digital voice data to reduce the amount of digital data used tocommunicate the voice commands to the server. The compression isperformed by a commercially available compression software sold byVoiceAge.

The badge 32 may further include an input device 74 that permits theuser to control the operation of the badge and its configuration. In oneembodiment, the input device may be a jog switch which is aspring-loaded compound-action switch that supports three momentaryactions. In particular, the switch may be pressed inwards as an ordinarypush button. The switch may also be rotated in either direction. Thefunction of these actions depends on the context. For example, if a callis in progress, the up and down movements may control volume. When acall is not in progress, these movements may control menu and messagescrolling in the display. Certain input operations may require that theswitch is pushed in for more than some predetermined amount of time. Inthe following descriptions, it will be convenient to speak of the jogcontrol as if it were three separate buttons for clarity. Therefore, theinward push control will be called the activate button; the other twocontrols will be referred to as the scroll up and scroll down buttons.Many jog operations are carried out by pressing and releasing almostimmediately; we will say “press the activate button”, for example, tomean press and quickly release. A few operations require holding forsome predetermined period of time, such as at least half a second,before releasing. We will say “press and hold” in this case. Thus, theuser interacts with the system through a combination of the jog switchand voice controls. In a preferred embodiment, the input device 74 maybe a touch button location in particular location, such as on the frontof the badge, that may be pushed or touched to activate the samefunctions and operations being activated by the jog switch.

The badge may also include an on/off switch 76 and a status indicator78. In a preferred embodiment, the status indicator may include an LEDthat is capable of displaying one or more different colors to signal theoperational status of the badge. For example, a slowly blinking greenlight indicates that the badge is within the network neighborhood and isoperational while a slowly blinking read light indicates that the badgeis not within a network neighborhood. The badge may further optionallyinclude a headset jack 80 that enables the user to plug in an externalmicrophone/speaker headset, such as an ear bud. When the externalheadset is plugged into the jack 80, the operation of the internalmicrophone and speaker is inhibited.

The wireless system must know which badge each user is wearing so thatcalls to the user can be properly routed. Badge assignment is theprocess of associating a badge with a particular user. The assignmentmay occur when a badge is first activated. At that time, the systemprompts the user to identify himself verbally. Depending on theinstallation, it may also be necessary for the user to say a passwordprovided to him by the administrator, or a voice signature that ismatched against a pre-recorded entry in the database of the server 36.Assuming the user is known to the system, the system will recognize thename, and will then (after a confirmation) assign the badge to the user.When the badge has been dynamically assigned to the user, the user'sprofile stored on the server 36 will be associated with the particularbadge so that, for example, the user's preferences are active or thealternate names of the user are known. Once assigned, the serial numberof the badge will show up on the user's console (as described in moredetail below), and the badge can display a welcome greeting, when turnedon, that is personalized to the user (e.g., “Hello, John”). The server36 may also store text messages that may be downloaded to the badge atthis time. A given badge can be assigned to at most one user at a time,and each user can be assigned only one badge at a time. A badge canlater be reassigned to another user, if desired, via a voice command.Alternatively, the system administrator can explicitly set the serialnumber of the badge to be assigned to a user through the user console.In accordance with the invention. a badge is not tightly bound to asingle user as would be the case with a cellular phone, wireless e-maildevice or other devices. In accordance with the invention, the badge isdynamically bound to the user when the user uses the badge. As anexample, when a badge is not being used by any particular user, it isnot assigned to any user and is available for use by any user. When theuser is assigned to a badge, the user profile on the server isassociated with the badge. However, the user profile is not stored onthe badge since the badge is merely a device used to access the system.As an example, a company may have 50 badges which are available for use.In accordance with the invention, when a user needs a badge, such as atthe start of a workday, the user is assigned a badge (as describedbelow) and uses the badge. At the end of the day, the user returns thebadge to the charger station and the badge returns to an unassignedstate in which any user may pick up and be assigned to the badge.

The bearer of the badge must typically first be registered with thesystem (or be registered by the administrator) before the badge can beassigned to him. In cases where visitors may be provided with a badge tobe used temporarily, it may be useful for the administrator to registera few “Guest” users (the registration process only takes a moment) andassign guest badges to them. If desired, the spoken name of the guestcan be entered through the user console, so that other users can hailhim by name as opposed to, say, “Guest Three”. As noted above, theassignment process entails that the user speak his own name so that hemay be recognized by the system. The name will be recorded by the systemand used for constructing a confirmation prompt when other parties call(“Finding . . . John Smith”). If the spoken name of the user is laterchanged in the User Console, the user will be prompted to re-speak thename the next time his badge is successfully activated. The user issimilarly prompted to speak the identifying phrase (“John Smith inSales”) if one is provided.

Returning to FIGS. 2 a-2 g and 3 a-3 h, two different embodiments of thebadge 32 in accordance with the invention are shown wherein thepreferred embodiment of the badge 32 is shown in FIGS. 3 a-3 h. In theembodiment shown in FIGS. 2 a-2 g, the badge does not include a displaydevice whereas the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 a-3 h includesthe display device 66. Both of the embodiments of the badge include aclip 82, a microphone opening 84 and a speaker opening 86. Eachembodiment also includes the input device 74, the on/off switch 76, thestatus indicator 78 and the headset jack 80 as shown. In the twoembodiments shown, the status indicators 78 may be a series of LEDlights. As shown in these two embodiments, the exact location of thevarious components on the badge may be varies without departing from thescope of the invention.

FIGS. 3 j-3 y illustrate two preferred embodiments of the communicationsbadge 32 in accordance with the invention. These embodiments of thebadge have the same elements as the prior embodiments so those elementswill not be described. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 j-3 q has theclip 82 as shown while the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 r-3 y does nothave the clip. Both of these embodiments do not include the jog switch,but have a different device. In the preferred embodiments shown, thedisplay 66 may be a monochrome dot matrix with a grid size of 32 rows by60 columns. The grid is sufficient to display up to four lines ofapproximately 14 text characters per line in a 5-point font. The displayis situated at the back of the badge, and so is normally not viewablewithout some manipulation from its normal position. The display is usedto indicate badge status (such as battery charge, on-off network status,and signal strength), to peruse text messages, to announce the origin ofincoming calls, and for various control menu functions. In addition tothe elements of the other badges, these badges include a activate button87 and a do not disturb/hold button 88.

The activate button 87 is the primary control with which the userinteracts with the badge and is a momentary push button on the front ofthe badge as shown. This button is used to initiate a dialog with thesystem agent (the “Genie”), as well as for various call controlfunctions. The activate button supports two momentary actions; it mayeither be pressed and immediately released (a press), or pressed andheld down (a press-and-hold) for longer than a brief moment. The lengthof a “brief moment” will need to be determined through experiment, butis likely to be approximately 600 milliseconds. While the functions ofpress and press-and-hold depend on the context, the general rule is thata press is used for an affirmative action (such as initiating oraccepting a call). The press-and-hold is used to power down the badge.

The do not disturb/hold button 88 is a second momentary push button thatis provided at the top of the unit as shown to allow the user to placethe badge in a do-not-disturb (DND) mode (if no call is currently inprogress), or to put a call on hold (if one is in progress). The buttonacts as a simple toggle. This button is backlighted by a single-colorLED that is normally inactive, but turns on when in DND or Hold mode. Itmay be useful to distinguish between the two modes by having the LEDblink while in DND mode, and continuously illuminated while a call is onhold, for example.

The input device 74 in these embodiments is a group of three smallmomentary push buttons is situated along one edge of the badge tofacilitate volume adjustment during calls, and manipulation of thedisplay menus when no call is in progress. The top and bottom buttons ofthe group increase and decrease call loudness, respectively, when a callis in progress. When the badge is inactive, they act as scroll controlsfor manipulating menus and text on the display. The middle button isused to make menu selections in this context.

The status indicator 78 in these embodiments is an LED display which iscapable of displaying two colors is used to signal operational status.For example, a fast blinking green indicates that a message is waiting.Other blinking patterns (such as blinking red) may be used to indicateother conditions, such as hand-off in progress or low battery. Theheadset jack 80 is provided to enable one to plug in an externalmicrophone/earphone combination. Use of the jack inhibits the operationof the built-in microphone and/or speaker. Now, the wireless accesspoints in accordance with the invention will be described in moredetail.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary access point 34 in accordancewith the invention. As described above, the wireless system 30 mayinclude at least one and typically several access point units situatedat various locations within the customer premises so that the networkneighborhoods of the access points preferably overlap. Each access point34 is connected to the computer network 38 as shown in FIG. 1 by acomputer network interface 90. Depending on the installation, the accesspoint may be plugged into as standard RJ45 Ethernet jack (intendedtypically for workstation nodes) using the Ethernet interface as shownin FIG. 4 and it may be mounted on the wall. Alternatively, the accesspoint may be located within the area above a drop-down tiled ceiling.The power for the access point may be provided by the network cableitself (according to a new standard) or the access point may beconnected to a AC source.

Each access point may include an external antennae 92 which may besupplied in several different variations, depending on the requirementsof the particular installation. For example, the antenna may havedirectional gain and may be mounted outside the building and connectedto the access point via a feed-through through a window for an outsideaccess point. Alternatively, the antennae may be mounted adjacent to theaccess point inside of a building area.

In principle, each access point serves a predetermined radius. Theactual radius depends on the type of wireless technology being used. Forexample, for a Bluetooth wireless technology or 802.11 wireless LAN, aradius of approximately 35 meters of coverage indoors and 100 metersout-of-doors may be typical. Each such area of coverage is said to be acell. As described above, access point spacing must be such that thereis sufficient cell overlap that hand-off of badges from one access pointto the next can be accommodated. The spacing of access points is also afunction of the anticipated conversation density. In particular, eachaccess point is typically able to manage up to seven active badges(i.e., seven concurrent active connections). In situations where agreater number of active connections are likely within a given area,cell size can be reduced (and the number of access points increased).

Each access point further comprises a wireless transceiver 94 connectedto the antennae that communicates with the badges. In one embodiment,the transceiver may be a Bluetooth transceiver while in a preferredembodiment, the transceiver may be a radio transceiver that implementsthe IEEE 802.11 standard. The access point may further include a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 96 that controls the transceiver and the computernetwork interface 90. In a preferred embodiment, the CPU may be a 32-bitRISC processor. The access point may further include memory 98 (whichmay include both memory chip devices as well as persistent storagedevices) that stores the instructions and software used by the CPU 96 tocontrol the operation of the access point. For example, the memory mayinclude an operating system 100, an Ethernet-based TCP/IP stack 102 anddata 104 associated with the operation of the access point. For example,the access point may temporarily buffer the voice data from a badgeprior to communicating it to the central computer over the computernetwork. The access point may also include a control switch 106, such asan on/off switch and a status indicator 108, such as a pilot LED.

As is well known, each access point is factory-assigned a unique networkmedium access control (MAC) address and can be assigned an IP addresseither through a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) or throughwireless programming using special wireless communication systeminstallation tools (e.g., possibly a badge with special firmware). Now,the central computer (a server in the preferred embodiment) will bedescribed in more detail

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary server 36 in accordance withthe invention. The server 36 is responsible for the overall control ofthe system. The server consists of a set of Java and C++ applicationprograms 120 running on an Windows-based operating system 122 on WindowsNT or Windows 2000 platforms, together with special-purpose hardwareneeded for telephony integration. In more detail, the server 36 mayinclude a central processing unit (CPU) 124 and a memory 126 that storessoftware currently being executed by the CPU such as the operatingsystem 122 and the JAVA and C++ applications 120 that implement thewireless communication functions of the wireless communications system.The server further comprises a persistent storage device 128, such as ahard disk drive, an optical drive, a flash memory or the like and adatabase 130 that stores information associated with the wirelesscommunications system. The database stores user information, includingthe assignment of users to badges, speech files containing user nameprompts and voice signatures, user preferences, buddy lists, textmessages and voice messages. It also keeps track of the whereabouts ofusers as they roam within the communications network. In large corporateinstallations, this component may interface to global employee databasesmaintained by the customer. The database may also reside on a computerthat is physically separate from the main server 36 and may bereplicated for fault-tolerance. A standard commercially-availabledatabase such as those based on SQL may be used.

The server 36 may further include a computer network interface 132, suchas the Ethernet Interface shown, that permits the server to be connectedto the computer network and a telephone network interface 134 thatpermits the server to be integrated with a typical telephone system thatmay include, for example, a public exchange telephone system and avoicemail system. The server typically resides in the same location asthe customer's telephone equipment so that it can interface to the PBXand the voicemail system. The telephony gateway component of the server36 could also reside in a separate computer that communicates to theserver 36 through the network.

FIG. 6 illustrates more details of the server 36 shown in FIG. 5. Inparticular, the functional blocks of the software 120 and the database130 are shown in more detail. The software may include a voice commandinterpreter 140, a call manager 142, a connection manager 144 and anadministrator 146. The voice command interpreter 140 may be a componentthat includes a speech engine, such as the commercially available Nuancespeech engine, is built onto the speech engine and has responsibilityfor interpreting and executing voice-based commands from both badges andexternally initiated calls coming in from the public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN). The call manager 142 has responsibility for the set-upand the breakdown of two-party and multi-party calls and maintainingstatus information associated with these calls and its connection to thePSTN or PBX as is well known. The connection manager 144 is thecomponent that is responsible for managing access points and theconnections between badges and access points and among the badges. Itsupports hand-off from one access point to another (or one subnet toanother) as a badge roams about the network and it informs the badges ofthe IP addresses of the other badges with which they are to communicate.The connecting manager also supports roaming across different sub-nets.In particular, when it is determined that a badge has crossed a sub-netboundary (since the connection to the badge has been lost), the badgewill request a new DHCP address and then communicate that newinformation to the server 36. The server 36 may then communicate the newaddress to the other badges in the system so that, for example, aconversation may be continued following the roaming of the badge in thenetwork.

The administrator/user module 146 (a browser application manager)supports administrator-level and user-level configuration and monitoringof the system through a web browser interface as shown. A telephonyintegration component 145 may include hardware and software needed forthe system to interoperate with the phone network. The hardwaretypically consists of one or more Dialogic or similar cards, such as aDialogic D/120JCT-LS card which has twelve analog ports, installedwithin the server machine, which might interface to a T1 trunk at thecompany PBX. The card is connected to the customer's telephone systemvia standard cables. The twelve ports enable twelve simultaneousconnections to PBX extensions or outside numbers. The software willsupport an IVR interface that permits calls originating from the outsideto be routed to the appropriate user.

The database 130 stores user information, including the assignment ofbadges to users, speech files containing user name prompts, messages,user preferences, buddy lists, text message and voice messages. It alsokeeps track of the whereabouts of users as they roam within thecommunications network, as well as the MAC address of each badge and theIP address currently assigned to each badge. Once a user has logged intothe system (and has a badge assigned to him), the database record forthat particular user may be cached into the memory of the server using ahash table so that the user information may be more readily accessed. Inlarge corporate installations, this component may interface to globalemployee databases maintained by the customer. The server 36 may alsocontain a web server, such as an Apache server, that hosts theuser/administration console.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of a portion of the user profile databaserecord 148 in accordance with the invention. This example does notinclude every element of the user profile database, but is merelyillustrative. A complete listing of the user profile database isprovided in the attached appendix A. As shown in FIG. 6A, the userprofile database record may comprise a profile portion 148 a, ascreening portion 148 b, an options portion 148 c, an address portion148 d and a forwarding portion 148 e. The profile portion 148 a containsvarious information about the particular user of the system as will bedescribed below in more detail. The screening portion 148 b containsinformation about how calls coming into the badge will be handled forthe particular user. The options portion 148 c contains informationabout various system options and address portion 148 d may containinformation about a MAC address for the badge which is currentlyassigned to the user and an IP address. The forwarding portion 148 econtains information about how calls going to the badge for the user areforwarded when the user is not available.

In more detail, the profile portion 148 a comprises a login field 148 fcontaining login information about the particular user, a password field148 g which contains the password of the particular user, a last field148 h containing the last name of the particular user, a first field 148i containing the first name of the particular user, an alternativespoken name field 148 j that contains other spoken names for theparticular user, an identification phrase field 148 k which contains aphrase used to identify the particular user, an email field 148 lcontaining the e-mail address of the particular user, a work phone field148 m containing the work phone number of the particular user, a cellphone field 148 n containing the cell phone number of the particularuser, a home phone field 148 o containing the home phone number of theparticular user, a permissions field 148 p containing the permissionswhich the particular user has, a PIN field 148 q containing the PINnumber of the particular user and an owner field 148 r containing theowner name. The screening portion 148 b may further comprise a block allfield 149 a containing a flag which indicates that the user is currentlyblocking all calls to the badge, an allow all field 149 b containing aflag indicating whether the user is currently allowing all calls to hiscurrently assigned badge, a buddies field 149 c containing the buddiesfor the particular user and an exceptions field 149 d containing theexceptions for the block all and allow all options.

The options portion 148 c may further comprise an iOptions field 149 econtaining the options for the user, a ringtone field 149 f containingthe ringtone selected by the user at the particular time and a Geniepersona field 149 g containing the particular Genie persona currentlyselected by the user. The forwarding portion 148 e may further comprisea none field 149 h containing a flag that no call forwarding iscurrently in place, a desk phone forward field 149 i containing a flagindicating that call may be forwarded to the user's desk phone, a cellphone forwarding field 149 j containing a flag indicating that call maybe forwarded to the user's cell phone, a home phone forwarding field 149k containing a flag indicating that call may be forwarded to the user'shome phone, a voicemail field 149 l containing a flat indicating the acall may be forwarded to the user's voicemail, an other field 149 mcontaining a flag indicating that the call may be forwarded to anotherdestination, and a badge field 149 n containing a flag indication thatthe call may be forwarded to another badge. Now, the user console willbe described in more detail.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user/administrator console inaccordance with the invention. In particular, the user console inaccordance with the invention may be implemented when a computer 149,such as a personal computer, is used to access the server 36 over acomputer network 150, such as the World Wide Web, that uses the typicalHTTP protocol. The computer 149 may include a display unit 152, achassis 154 and one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard 156and a mouse 158. In more detail, the chassis may include a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 160, a memory 162 that stores software currentlybeing executed by the CPU and a persistent storage device 164, such as ahard disk drive. To implement the user console functionality, a typicalbrowser application 166 may be downloaded into the memory and executedby the CPU. The browser will permit the computer to establish aconnection over a communications link, such as a DSL modem line or thelike, to the server 36 using the HTTP protocol. To permit the user toview the system information, the server may generate one or more webpages that are displayed on the display unit of the computer and theuser may interact with the web pages to change the information of thesystem.

The user/administrator console is a browser-accessible web applicationthrough which users are registered with the system, and through whichvarious profile information fields, preferences, group memberships andbuddy lists can be set up. The application is hosted, in a preferredembodiment, using an Apache-based web server that is co-resident withthe server 36. The application is accessible from anywhere within thecustomer's firewall via a login name and password. If desired, acustomer could permit external access to the application so that asupport person or some other agent could monitor and/or troubleshoot thesystem externally. The console also allows a user to retrieve saved textand voice messages and to view a call activity log.

Depending on a system administration option, new users can be allowed toself-register through the console, or may be registered via a batchentry process available only to the system administrator. In someenvironments (such as retail stores), the application may not beaccessible to ordinary users at all. In such cases, the systemadministrator will be responsible for configuring all global anduser-level settings. It is expected that various vertical markets willrequire both cosmetic and functional variations of the browserapplication. For example, in a corporate setting, all users can besafely assumed to have an e-mail address that can serve as a login ID.In a hotel environment, on the other hand, this may not be the case.Moreover, certain product features, such as choices of Genie personaeand sound prompts, may need to be customized according to the vertical.Because the requirements for the various targeted verticals are stillundetermined, not all of the following feature descriptions are expectedto apply to every situation. The application may be entered via a loginpage that invites existing users to enter a login name and password, andnew users to register themselves with the system (if self-registrationis enabled).

The body of the application is organized as a collection of web pages,each of which presents a set of related text fields, choices andinteractions. The different pages are accessed via a columnararrangement of menu buttons arranged at the left side of each page. Eachfield or control appearing on a page is accompanied by a brief title orcomment explaining its function. In the case of the more subtle items,an information dot is provided that a user can click on to see a moredetailed explanation. At the bottom of each page is a Save button thatis ordinarily grayed out, but which becomes active when a user makes achange to the page. The button must be pressed to save any changes madeto the page since the last save. As a safety provision, if the usernavigates to a new page before saving, a dialog box is presented askinghim whether or not he wishes to abandon his changes. In a preferredembodiment, the console may include a plurality of different user pages,including but not limited to, a basic information page, an announcementoptions page, a call screening options page, a buddy list page, aforwarding options page, a groups page and a miscellaneous options page.

In a preferred embodiment, the console may also include a plurality ofadministrator pages including but not limited to a systems option page,a user administration page, a badge status monitor page, an access pointlocation page and a telephony options page. In typical customerenvironments, one (or more) of the users will be designated as systemadministrator, and will have responsibility for configuration andmonitoring of the system. Because it cannot be assumed that the systemadministrator will have a technical background in every instance, norhave much free time to administer the system, it is a design goal thatthe administration mechanisms be as easy to understand and use as therest of the system. System administration is effected through thebrowser application. When a user successfully logs in using the“Administrator” login ID, the usual pages of the application arereplaced by special pages that pertain exclusively to administrativefunctions. Beyond having access to the administrator pages, anadministrator has the ability to put himself in the “shoes” of anarbitrary user. To do so, he simply logs in as the user in question, butsupplies the administrator password. The information fields and variousother settings and features that are accessible through the console willnow be described. First, the administrator pages will be described andthen the user pages will be described in more detail.

The system options page for the administrator contains fields andcontrols for managing system-wide preferences and policies. Below is arepresentative examples of the information on this page since the pagemay be augmented as more knowledge is gained about what needs to beincluded in this page. The page may include an administrator passwordfield which is a text field that is initially blank at the time ofinstallation, but should be filled in the first time the administratorlogs in. The page may include a company name field which is text fieldcontaining the name of the company in which the system is installed. Thepage may also include a license key field which is a text field thatgives the license key defining the number of users to which the customeris entitled. The page may include a self-registration option checkboxfield which, when enabled, allows users to self-register through thebrowser application. If disabled, all users must be created by theadministrator via the User Administration page detailed below.

The system options page may further include a default user permissionsarea which may include a series of checkboxes that allow the systemadministrator to specify a default set of capabilities that are enabledfor all users. The permissions that are not checked off here can stillbe accorded to particular users from the User Administration page. Thepermissions include the following:

Location—which enables the use of “Where is?” and “Locate” voicecommands.

Group Management—which enables display of the Groups page in the userbrowser application, which permits creation, editing, and deletion ofgroups. This permission also enables use of all group voice commands,including the Record Group Prompts voice command.

Group Add/Remove—which enables the “Add me to group” and “Remove me fromgroup” voice commands.

VIP Status—which enables a user to complete a call to someone when hewould otherwise be blocked. (In this case, the Genie first asks whetherthe call is urgent.) Note that users can give particular buddies thisability as well (see Buddy List page in the User Application.)

Ability to place internal calls through the PBX.

Ability to place external calls through the PBX.

Dynamic Badge Assignment—which enables the Log In and Log Out commands,which allow users to assign a badge to themselves at the beginning of ashift; and

System Administration Voice Commands—which enables the Begin Tour, EndTour, Assign Location, and Record Location Prompt voice commands,allowing a user to administrate access point locations (see Access PointLocations page below).

The systems option page may also include a message sweep time area. Asdescribed in a later section, users of the system need not explicitlydelete voice or text messages they have received. Instead, messages thatare sufficiently old are automatically deleted. The message sweep timeoption determines how long old messages persist before they are deleted.This option is controlled by a drop-down box that enumerates choices ofsweep times, ranging from several hours to several weeks. Anothercontrol is provided that defines the time of day at which the sweepoccurs. The systems option page may also include an auto-logout checkboxfield which, when checked, causes the system to automatically deassign(log out) and power off a badge when the badge is placed in a batterycharger. This feature is useful in environments in which badges areshared among users. In such an environment, a user will typically take abadge from the gang charger at the beginning of a shift, and restore itto the charger at the end of the shift.

The administrator application may also include the user administrationpage. In many customer settings, the process of registering new userswill be the responsibility of the system administrator, as opposed tothe individual users themselves. Even in situations whereself-registration is supported, the administrator may need to add newusers to the system from time to time, and to remove users whoseservices are “no longer required”. For these purposes, a UserAdministration page is provided that allows one to see the current setof registered users, as well as to add or remove users easily. This pagealso gives the administrator the ability to define permissions allowingparticular users to engage in restricted activities. In an environmentsupporting telephony integration, for example, only certain users may bepermitted to place outside calls.

The primary control on the page is a table listing the full name of eachregistered user. Clicking on a particular user in the table causesdetail fields and controls for that user to be displayed on the page.These include the user's log in name, as well as all the permissioncheckboxes listed for the System Options page. Buttons are also providedfor deleting the currently selected user, and for adding new user(s).This latter button brings up a cleared dialog box that displays theBasic Information fields. Pressing a Save button after filling out thedialog causes the newly-defined user to be added, and the dialog to becleared to permit the entry of another user. Pressing a Cancel button inthe dialog terminates the interaction, and dismisses the dialog.

The administrator application may also include the badge status monitorpage which gives a real-time picture of the status of all badges thatare currently within the network neighborhood. The display is in theform of a table with a row for each badge. The columns of the displayprovide the following information:

Full name of the user to which the badge is currently assigned (if any)

IP address

Note that IP addresses are assigned dynamically through the customer'sDHCP server. Because the wireless LAN may encompass more than onesubnet, the IP address of any given user can change as he roams aboutthe premises.

Location

The user's location is actually the name of the access point with whichthe badge is currently associated. Access Point names are assigned onthe Access Point Location Page described in the next section.

Call Status

This field shows whether and with whom (including the Genie) the badgeis currently conversing.

DND/Hold Status

Miscellaneous

For testing/debugging purposes, it may be convenient to display otherstatus information such as battery condition, signal strength, BER, andother hardware-related parameters. The page may also show aggregatestatistical data that may be useful, such as the total number of activeusers, system up-time, average length of call, and so on. It may alsokeep track of metrics needed to monitor speech recognition engine usagefor licensing purposes.

The administrator pages may include the access point locations page. Thesystem provides a number of voice commands that allow users to belocated within the network neighborhood. These commands depend on thedefinition of locations within the network. Locations may be chosen todesignate buildings (“Building C”) floors within buildings (“FirstFloor, Building C”) or functional areas (“cardiology”, “the cafeteria”).Each location is defined by one or more access points. Each accesspoint, on the other hand, can be associated with at most one location.

In defining locations, one must bear in mind that radio propagation is amercurial phenomenon, and that there is no guarantee that a badge willassociate with the access point that is physically closest. Indeed, itis quite possible (though not very likely) for a badge to associate withan access point situated on a different floor. For this reason, locationof users is an approximate business, which suggests that a courserlocation grid may be more useful than a finer one. In a campusenvironment, it may be sufficient simply to use building names. Doing somakes the location naming scheme easy to understand, and makes thelocation commands quite reliable. The Access Point Location page allowsthe administrator to define the set of locations, and to assign accesspoints to each location.

The principle control on the page is a Locations list box enumeratingthe names of the various locations. Buttons are included to add a newlocation to the list, or to delete the currently-selected location.Selecting a particular location populates detail fields giving thefollowing information:

Name Field

This text field gives the location name (such as First Floor) thatappears in the Locations list box.

Spoken Name Field

This text field permits a phonetic pronunciation to be entered for thelocation. If none is provided, the value of the name field is used.

Description Field

This text field allows a more complete description of the location orcomments to be entered.

In addition to the location list box, the page sports two detail tables.One of these (entitled Access Points) lists the MAC addresses of theaccess points assigned to the currently-selected location. Buttons areprovided to add or remove an access point from the table. The seconddetail table, labeled Neighbors, lists locations that are adjacent tothe currently-selected location. For example, the Cafeteria may belisted as a neighbor of Intensive Care. Defining neighbors allows theLocate voice command (described below) to be more useful, especiallygiven the uncertainty of access point association noted earlier. Again,controls are provided for adding or removing a location from theneighbors list.

Because entering the MAC address of the access points for each locationmay be a tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone business (especiallyin installations having dozens or even hundreds of access points), amechanism is provided to automate the process. The administrator firstdefines the location names by adding them to the Locations list box—thiswill usually take only a minute or two. The association of access pointsto locations is then made by taking a walking tour through the premises.The administrator begins the tour by issuing the Begin Tour voicecommand. As he roams around the premises, the Genie will announce eachtransition from one access point to another. At each transition, theGenie recites the MAC address of the access point, as well as the nameof the location, if any, to which the access point is currentlyassigned. If no location is assigned, the administrator is invited tospeak the name of the location to which the access point belongs. TheMAC address of that access point is then automatically added to the listcorresponding to the given location. The administrator invokes the EndTour voice command to terminate the session. As an additional aid, theAssign Location voice command is provided, which allows the currentlyassociated access point to be assigned to a location at any time(whether touring or not). Note also that the MAC address and location ofthe currently associated access point can always be determined throughthe Info menu selection on the badge.

A Record Location Prompt voice command is also provided that allows aprompt to be recorded for a particular location. The prompt is used bysystem in conjunction with voice commands that utter location names. Ifno prompt is recorded, text-to-speech synthesis is used instead. TheBegin/End Tour, Assign Location, and Record Location Prompt voicecommands all require the user to have the system administration voicecommand permission. Three voice commands are provided to users that makeuse of locations. The “Where Is?” command permits location of aparticular user. The “Locate” command allows one to identify members ofa group who are currently in or close to a given location. For example,the command, “Locate technical support reps in the Cafeteria” wouldcause the Genie to find reps in the Cafeteria and neighboring locations.Finally, the “Where am I?” voice command allows one to identify thelocation of the access point with which he is currently associated. Allof these commands require the user to be enabled for location.

The administrator application may also include the telephony optionspage. For installations in which telephony integration is implemented,the system will need to be configured so as to interoperate with thecustomer's PBX or voice mail system. Among the items that likely need tobe specified are the following:

Telephony Installed

This check box field indicates whether or not telephony options havebeen installed.

Outside Access Enabled

This check box field controls whether users have the ability to placeoutside calls by default. If not checked, particular users can begranted this ability through the User Administration Page.

Outside Line Access Code

This text field defines the pattern of digits needed to obtain anoutside line through the PBX.

Voice Mail Access Code

This text field defines the pattern of digits needed for direct accessof the voice mail system through the PBX. Now, the various user pageswill be described in more detail. The user pages include the basicinformation page. The basic information page contains fields givingbackground information for the user, including his name, phone numbers,e-mail address, and so on. This is the page at which a new user arrivesfrom the login page, and is the only one containing fields that must befilled out in order to register. In the listing below, the requiredfields are notated with asterisks. Now, the user pages that are part ofthe application will be described in more detail.

As described above, in a preferred embodiment, the console may include aplurality of different user pages, including but not limited to, a basicinformation page, an announcement options page, a call screening optionspage, a buddy list page, a forwarding options page, a groups page and amiscellaneous options page. Each of these pages will now be described inmore detail.

The basic information page contains fields giving background informationfor the user, including his name, phone numbers, e-mail address, and soon. This is the page at which a new user arrives from the login page,and is the only one containing fields that must be filled out in orderto register. In the listing below, the required fields are notated withasterisks.

Login Name(*)

This is the unique identifier the user enters to gain access to theconsole/application. For example, “JSmith”. In a corporate setting, itis likely to be the user's e-mail address. In this case, the e-mailaddress field (below) does the job, and no separate Login Name field isnecessary.

Login Password (*)

Password may be used to gain access to the console (passwords may or maynot be mandatory, depending on the system configuration). The systemadministrator password will always work as well.

First and Last Name (*)

Includes fields for first name and last name.

E-Mail Address

Gives the e-mail address to which voice messages are directed using theSend E-Mail voice command.

Desk Telephone No.

This is the user's desk phone number to which incoming calls can beredirected (see Unanswered Call Options below).

Cell Phone No.

This is the user's cell phone number, to which incoming calls can beredirected (see Unanswered Call Options below).

Home Phone No.

Spoken Name

This is the full spoken name other users should say to refer to thisuser. For example, “Call John Smith”. The system retains, as part of theuser's profile, a voice audio file that records the user's spoken namein that user's own voice. This audio file is used to construct aconfirmation prompt when some other party calls the user. The file isrecorded as part of the badge registration process described in a latersection. The system will, by default, recognize the full name (first andlast) of a user. Often, however, a user may go by a variation of hisformal name—he may go by “Jim Smith”, for example, rather than “JamesSmith”. The spoken name field allows such a variation to be specified.

The spoken name field is also useful for providing a phoneticallyspelled variant in the case of a foreign name or a name with an unusualpronunciation. For example, Jim Beaumont might be given the spoken name,“Jim Bow-mont”. An information dot will be furnished to give the usersome guidance as to how to develop a phonetic spelling. A phoneticpronunciation wizard may be provided as well.

The system retains, as part of the user's profile, a voice audio filethat records the spoken name in a user's own voice. This audio file isused to construct a confirmation prompt when some other party calls theuser. The Record Name voice command allows a user to record or re-recordhis name prompt. If no prompt has been recorded, the system synthesizesthe name using text-to-speech.

Alternate Spoken Names

In many cases, a person may go by more than one name, or his name may bepronounced by different people in different ways. To provide for thiseventuality, up to three alternative names may be supplied in additionto the primary spoken name. For example, “Kathy Johnson” might be asupplied as the primary name, while “Kate Johnson”, “Katie Johnson”, and“Miss Johnson” might be provided as secondary names. These alternatenames are stored in the database 130 similar to the other user profileinformation.

Identifying Phrase

The identifying phrase is used to distinguish two users who may happento have identical first and last names, such as John Smith. In such acase, their identifying phrases might be “John Smith in Marketing”, and“John Smith in Sales”, respectively. If a caller asks for John Smith,the Genie retorts, “Say either John Smith in Marketing or John Smith inSales”. If an identifying phrase is given, the Record Name voice commandwill prompt the user to record the corresponding prompt. In the absenceof such a recording, the system uses text-to-speech synthesis.

Badge ID

This field gives the ID number of the badge currently assigned to thegiven user, if any. The ID is actually a ten-character alphanumericencoding the unique physical (MAC) address of the badge. A badge can beassigned either by explicitly entering the ID into the field, or byvoice command, as described later in the section entitled BadgeAssignment. Note that in some environments, the MAC addresses of thebadges may need to be explicitly registered with the wireless LAN accesspoint(s) or RADIUS server as part of the security regime.

“Away” Messages

This stores recorded messages a user can elect to have played back tothe caller when not available. A particular message can be selectedeither through the console or via voice command.

The announcement options page will now be described. This page presentsthe user with various choices controlling interaction with the Genie andnotifications of different events.

Genie Persona

Users can choose the Genie personality with whom they will interact fromamong a number of different genders and personalities, including male,female, and even HAL-like voices. The choice of Genie controls not onlythe voice and personality in which verbal prompts are recited, but alsovarious signaling tones, such as the “earcon” that announces that theGenie is listening. Note once again that in many vertical markets, usersmay not have access to the application, and a choice of persona may bemade once and for all by the system administrator. The Genie Personachoice is presented on the page as a radio button group. Each button isaccompanied by a label giving the name of the persona, and a button theuser can click on to hear an introductory message from the Genie.

Genie Greeting Radio Group

This option allows the user to select how the Genie that he is listeningfor a command when the activate button is pressed. The control offersthree alternatives:

-   -   Tone Greeting    -   Spoken Greeting    -   Tone and Spoken Greeting

In the first case, only a tonal “earcon” is played. In the second, onlya persona-specific spoken phrase is played (such as “Vocera”, or “GoodMorning, Bob”) is played. In the last case, the tone is played followedby the spoken phrase.

Verbal Genie Greeting Checkbox

If this option is elected, the Genie announces his presence with aspoken phrase (such as “Vocera”, or “Good Morning, Bob”) after the Genieearcon is played. If not, only the earcon is played.

Call Announcement Tone

This control is a drop-down box from which the user can select the soundto play to announce an incoming call. Note that this selection isindependent of the Genie selection. Once again, a button is provided toallow the user to hear the selected prompt. At the same time that thecall announcement tone is played, the name of the caller is displayed(if ascertainable) on the LCD. The system may permits customized ringsignals to be used for different callers such that a particular callermay have a particular ring tone associated with him/her.

Verbal Announcement Checkbox

If this option is elected, incoming calls are announced verbally by theGenie after the call announcement tone is played: “Can you speak to JohnSmith?” for example. If the auto-answer feature (see below) is enabled,the verbal prompt is an announcement as opposed to a question: “Here isJohn Smith”.

Auto Answer

Ordinarily, it is necessary to take an explicit action to accept anincoming call. This can be done either verbally (for example, “Accept”)or by pressing the activate button. The call can also be explicitlyrejected, either verbally or by pressing and holding the activatebutton. If verbal call announcement is not selected, a call can also berejected implicitly simply by not answering. Note that incoming callscan thus be accepted (or rejected) in a completely hands-free manner.

By electing the auto answer option, the call is put through withoutexplicit acknowledgement. If verbal call announcement is currentlyenabled, the Genie simply says, “Here's Johnny!” rather than “Can youspeak to Johnny?” Auto answer is useful when a team is engaged infrequent communication, and maximal efficiency is desired.

Auto “Who Called?”

If this option is elected, the Genie will automatically, uponinvocation, say who called or left messages. More precisely, the Geniewill recite the names of users who unsuccessfully called or tried todeliver a message since the last Genie invocation: “You had a call fromJim Jones and an urgent message from Jack Smith.” The user can thenissue verbal commands to retrieve any messages, or to call back whoeverhad called.

On/Off Network Alert

If this option is checked, an audible alert is signaled when a badgeenters or leaves the network. This is most useful in environmentswherein users are expected to turn in their badge prior to leaving thepremises. Network status/signal strength is also indicated on the LCDdisplay.

Low Battery Alert

If this option is checked, a tone sounds periodically when a low batterycondition is detected. Battery condition is also indicated on the LCDdisplay.

Misplaced Badge Finder

When this checkbox option is enabled, the badge emits a periodic sound,enabling its location to be ascertained if it is within the network.This feature will work only if the badge is within the networkneighborhood and if the batteries have not yet run down.

Text Message Announcement Method

This setting specifies how the user's badge “rings” in the event of anincoming text message.

The options are:

1) Verbal announcement (“You've got text!”)

2) Various ringing signals (courtesy tones, ringing signals, melodies,etc.); and/or

3) None

In all cases, the LCD will display the name of the calling party (ifknown) and the LED will blink fast green.

The call screening options page will now be described. The callscreening options determine whose calls are allowed through when theuser is reachable (i.e., within the network neighborhood and not indo-not-disturb mode.). By “allowed through”, we mean only that the callis announced; it may still be rejected—for example, simply by notanswering. Calls that are not allowed through are handled according tothe setting of the Forwarding Options described below.

Call screening entails selection from among two primary options,presented in as a radio button group:

Accept ALL Calls

This option effectively turns off call screening, allowing calls fromeveryone, including those who may be calling in from the outside.

Block All Calls

This option, at the opposite extreme, allows no calls.

In addition to selecting from the two primary options, a user may add orremove entries from an exception list. As the name implies, theexception list enumerates individual users and groups of users thatrepresent exceptions to the primary selection. For example, if Block AllCalls is selected, and Tech Support is added to the exception list, thencalls from anyone in Tech Support are accepted. Similarly, if Accept AllCalls is the primary selection, then adding Tech Support to theexception list blocks calls from anyone in Tech Support.

These call screening options, including manipulation of the exceptionslist, can be controlled by voice command as well as through the browserapplication. For example, the command “Block all calls except from SteveLoscatoff and Randy Nielsen” causes the primary selection to be BlockAll Calls, and causes Steve and Randy to be placed on the exceptionslist. The command, “Accept calls only from Steve Loscatoff and RandyNielsen” has exactly the same effect. Now, the buddy list page will bedescribed.

The buddy list page permits a user to generate/manage his/her buddylist. The buddy list is a list of parties with whom the user frequentlycommunicates, and whose calls will normally be accepted, if not blockedby one of the call screening options enumerated above. A user's buddieseach have a nickname that can (optionally) be used in voice commands inplace of the buddy's full spoken name. By default, the nickname is justthe buddy's first name. However, the user may specify any name hewants—for example, “Butch”, “Maverick”, or “Boss”. Note that thenickname is private to the user, so that different users may assign adifferent nickname to the same person. For example, John may be onMary's buddy list and Gina's buddy list, but may be called “Jack” byMary, and “Johnny Baby” by Gina.

A buddy may be assigned VIP status. If given this status, the buddy canbreak in to the user in an urgent situation even if he would otherwisebe blocked by dint of one of the call screening options—even if the useris in do-not-disturb mode at the time. In such a situation, the buddy isasked by the system whether the call is urgent. If he answersaffirmatively, he is allowed through; otherwise, the normal unansweredcall procedure is followed (see Forwarding Options).

In addition, a call announcement option may be elected for each buddy.In this way, the user can know who is calling on the basis of the toneannouncing the call. The election overrides the general CallAnnouncement Tone setting.

A user's buddy list may include named groups as well as individuals. Forexample, putting Tech Support on your buddy list will insure that thetech support folks will always be able to reach you. Adding a group tothe buddy list is tantamount to adding each member of the group to thelist. The buddy list may also include outsiders (i.e., non-users), suchas external business associates, friends, or Mom. When an outsider isdesignated as a buddy, a phone number and e-mail address can be filledin. The phone number allows the buddy to be dialed by name (“Call Mom”),and the e-mail address allows the buddy to be sent an e-mail with avoice message attachment (“Send E-Mail to Mom”).

The buddy relationship is not necessarily reciprocal; for example, thefact that the boss has added Mary to his buddy list does not imply thatthe boss is on Mary's buddy list. However, in many team situations,being a buddy is a two-way street. The following two options areprovided for convenience in such situations:

-   -   Automatic Buddies

If Mary elects this option and John adds Mary to his buddy list, thenJohn will automatically be added to Mary's buddy list.

-   -   Automatic Notification

If Mary elects this option and John adds Mary to his buddy list, thenthe next time that Mary accesses her user console, she will be notifiedthat John has added her to his list, and can choose at that time to addJohn to hers (or not). Note that in the case of a team, it may be mostconvenient to create a named group (see Named Groups below); the name ofthe group could be entered into each user's buddy list.

Note that in the case of a team, it may be most convenient to create anamed group (see Groups Page below); the name of the group could beentered into each user's buddy list. The voice commands for callscreening can refer to buddies explicitly, as in, “Block all callsexcept from Buddies”, or “Block only calls from Buddies.”

The forwarding options page permits the user to customize the forwardingoptions of the wireless communications system. Forwarding options comeinto play when a call cannot get through, either because the user iscurrently not within the network neighborhood, or because the call isblocked or refused. The system first checks the forwarding options tosee whether the unanswered call should be forwarded to a phone number orto some other user's badge (such as that of an assistant) or to a group.If so, an attempt is made to forward the call. If the forwarding issuccessful, no further action occurs. Success, in this case, means thatthe call was answered, even if by an answering machine or voice mail.(In the case of forwarding to another badge, success means that theperson to whom the call was forwarded was available and accepted thecall). If no forwarding is specified, or if forwarding was notsuccessful, the user's greeting is played (if one was recorded), and thecaller is asked whether he wishes to leave a message. The forwardingoptions are presented as a group of radio buttons. Note that the deskphone number, cell phone number, and home phone numbers will need tohave been specified in the Basic Information Page.

No Forwarding (default choice)

Forward to Desk Phone

If this option is elected, the call is redirected to the user's deskphone extension. From there, it may be picked up by the customer's voicemail system.

Forward to Voice Mail

In this case, the desk phone does not ring, but instead, the call isrouted directly to the user's voice mailbox

Forward to Cell Phone

This option is similar to “Forward to Desk Phone” option, except thatthe user's cell phone number is dialed instead.

Forward to Home Phone

Forward to Another Number

If this option is selected, a text field must be filled with the numberto be called.

Quick Message

The caller is prompted for a short (no more than 10 seconds) message. Assoon as the user becomes available (is within the network neighborhood,and is allowing calls from the caller), the system automatically callsthe user and plays the message.

Record Message for Voice Mail

This option makes it possible for a voice mail message to be leftwithout going through the tedium of interacting with the user's voicemail system. Instead, the caller is immediately prompted for a message.Afterwards, the system calls up the user's voice mail box and plays backthe message “behind the scenes” without the caller's having to wait.

Forward to Badge

If this option is selected, a user or group to which to forward the callmust be designated. Forward to Badge might be used, for example, toredirect a call to an administrative assistant.

Voice-Enabled E-Mail

The caller is prompted for a message, which is then attached to ane-mail and sent to the user.

Voice-To-Text

The caller is prompted for a message, which is then transliterated totext and sent to the user, either through the network or through thepager service.

All of the forwarding options can be invoked using the Forward voicecommand.

The groups page permits the user to customize the groups feature of thewireless communications system. In particular, it is often convenient toname groups of users that can be referred to collectively. Groups oftenreflect organizational structure (Marketing, Tech Support, Security),and individual roles (Managers, Cashiers), but may also serve otherpurposes, such as to identify extemporaneous project teams. Group namescan be provided as name arguments in most voice commands that take nameparameters, can be entered in buddy lists and can have forwardingoptions just as ordinary users can.

The Groups Page provides the functionality needed to define and managegroups. It has means for creating or deleting groups, for adding orremoving members, and for defining scheduling procedures when a groupmember is to be dispatched. System administration options control whichusers may perform these operations. The groups may also include aprivate group, which is visible only to the user who creates the group.The Groups Page contains the following controls and fields:

Group Selector

This control is a drop-down box that lists the names of all groups. Whena group is selected from this list, the remaining controls on the pageshow information pertaining to that group.

New Group Button

This button, used to define a new group, is enabled only if the user hasgroup-creation privileges. When pressed, the controls on the rest of thepage are cleared to permit definition of the new group.

Duplicate Group Button

Operation is similar to New Group, but copies over settings from thepreviously selected group.

Delete Group Button

This button, which deletes the currently displayed group, is enabledonly if the user has group deletion privileges. A confirmation dialog ispresented when the button is pressed. (Note, however, that as with allother pages, changes are saved only if the Save button at the bottom ofthe page is pressed.)

Group Name Field (*)

This text field defines the name of the group as it appears in buddylists, etc. The group name should reflect the collective form of thename of the group, as in Managers, Cashiers, Technical Support,Marketing.

Spoken Name Field

By default, the group name also serves as the spoken name. This fieldallows a phonetic pronunciation to be designated instead. The spokenname should give the collective form of the group. The Record GroupPrompts voice command can be invoked to record a prompt vocalizing thename of the group. In the absence of such a prompt, text-to-speech isused.

Spoken Member Name Field

This field gives the spoken name of a member of a group. For the TechSupport group, for example, this field could be filled in with “atechnical support agent.” For the Cashiers group, it would likely befilled in with “a cashier”. If the group defines a role that is occupiedby only one person at a time, the prefix “the” should be used ratherthan “a”. For example, if a store has only one Store Manager on duty ata time, “the store manager” should be used.

Spoken Member Name Field—Plural Form

Similar to Spoken Member Name, but gives the plural form. For the TechSupport group, for example, this field could be filled in with“technical support agents.” For the Cashiers group, it would likely befilled in with “cashiers”. If the group defines a role that is occupiedby only one person at a time, this field should be left blank. TheRecord Group Prompts voice command can be invoked to record promptsvocalizing the spoken names just described. In the absence of suchprompts, text-to-speech is used.

Scheduling Algorithm

When a user says “Call Tech Support”, he does not wish to speak toeveryone in tech support, but rather to any Tech Support person who iscurrently available. The scheduling algorithm determines the order inwhich group members will be checked for availability. The followingchoices are offered as a radio group:

-   -   Sequential Order

Members of the group are always tried in the order in which they appearin the group membership list. This algorithm is useful in environmentsin which one of the members takes primary responsibility for answeringcalls, but for which back-up members are named.

-   -   Round-Robin Order

Members of the group are tried in a rotational order. A time stamp ismaintained for each member, so that the person who least recently took acall is the first one tried in the current round. This algorithm isuseful in environments in which it is desirable to spread the load in afair manner.

Membership List

The membership list is a table that displays all the current members ofthe group, and possibly a time stamp giving the last time the membertook a call as a member of the group. Group members can be eitherindividuals or other groups. Groups can thus be nested within othergroups. For example, the House Keeping group might be a member of theGuest Services group. Rows of the membership list can be selected tofacilitate the member operations listed below.

Member Add/Delete

Buttons are provided to add a new member, as well as to delete thecurrently selected member(s). Pressing the Add button brings up a dialogfrom which a new user or group can be selected as a new member.

Member Reordering

Because scheduling works with respect to the order of members in theMembership list, it is useful to be able to change the ordering ofmembers in the list. Move Up and Move Down buttons are provided for thispurpose, and cause the currently selected member to be moved upward ordownward, respectively, in the membership list.

Forwarding Options

Voice commands can also be used to allow users to add or removethemselves from a group. A user simply says, for example, “Add me togroup Tech Support”, or “Remove me from group Tech Support”. In theevent he is a member of more than one group, the Genie will ask for thename of the group. Adding and removal in this way requires a permissiondefined on the User Administration page of the administration browserapplication.

Voice commands are also provided to list the members of a group (“Who isin Tech Support?”) and to list the groups of which a user is a member(“What groups am I a member of?”) or to enumerate all of the existinggroups in the system (“List all Groups”). The Groups Page can be madeinvisible to non-administrators through a system administration option.In this case, the Groups menu button will simply be omitted from thepage selection menu.

The groups page may further include the following features.

Locate Enabled Option

This option controls whether the user will allow himself to be locatedwhen within the network neighborhood (see description of the Wherecommand). The user may wish to turn this off for privacy reasons (ifsystem administration policy permits).

Auto “Who Called?” Option

If this option is elected, the user is automatically notified as to whotried unsuccessfully to reach him. The notification occurs when the usernext activates his badge.

Logging and Archive Options

These options control:

-   -   Logging of calls and text messages

If enabled, the console maintains a log of call and message activity.The log shows the date, time, and originator (including phone number ofan outsider caller, if determinable) of each call or pager message.

-   -   Save Messages

If this option is selected, text messages will be automatically“uploaded” from the badge periodically and saved. Controls are providedin the console for viewing and deleting these archived messages.

Genie Prompt Options

When the user summons the voice recognition system (the Genie) byactivating his badge, a prompt is played to signal that the Genie islistening. This option allows the user to choose from among a number ofprompt options, including:

1) Verbal Prompt (such as “Vocera—how can I help you?”); and/or

2) Various courtesy tones.

Electing this option makes the voice command prompts more verbose. Theverbal commands are unchanged, but the user is “babied” more.

Predefined (“Canned”) Text Messages

Predefined, or “canned” messages provide a means by which a user canreply to messages or calls from other users simply by making a selectionfrom the badge display menus. See the “Text Messaging” section for amore detailed description of this feature.

Learn Mode Option

Electing this option makes the voice command prompts more verbose. Theverbal commands are unchanged, but the user is “babied” more.

Power Control Options

These may include, for example, restricted hours of operation that savebattery power.

Pager CAP Code

This field gives the CAP Code assigned to the user. As with the BadgeSerial No, this field cannot be set by the user. It will instead be seteither by the system administrator, or will already have set inside thebadge itself at the factory. Now, the badge assignment process inaccordance with the invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 8A illustrates the badge assignment process in which a badge may bein an unassigned state 168 a or an assigned state 168 b. Theassignment/unassignment process may be carried out with a browser 169 a,with first use 169 b and with voice commands 169 c. In more detail, thesystem must be aware of which badge each user is wearing so that callscan be properly routed. Badge assignment is the process of associating abadge with a particular user. At any given time, a badge can be assignedto at most one user, and each user can have at most one badge assigned.Note that each badge is uniquely identified by a Badge ID that encodesits network MAC address. Assigning a badge to a particular user istherefore tantamount to assigning a Badge ID (MAC address) to that user.If the user leaves the network boundary (and loses connection with thenetwork) and then returns to the network, the badge will send its MACaddress to the server 36 when it returns to the network and the systemwill be able to automatically re-associate/re-assign the badge back tothe user based on the MAC address of the badge by looking up the MACaddress in the user profile database to locate the user.

A number of ways of assigning a badge are provided in order toaccommodate different customer requirements. In some cases, the systemadministrator or the user himself may wish to pre-assign badges at thetime the user is added to the system. In other environments, badges willbe shared or allocated from a pool at the beginning of a shift. In thislatter case, assignment will more likely be performed dynamicallythrough the “Log On” voice command.

When a badge is assigned, the name of the user is downloaded to thebadge at the next opportunity, and is displayed on the LCD when noconversation is in progress. (If a badge is not currently assigned, thedisplay shows the Badge ID.) In addition, user badge preferences storedin the user profile database, such as a network boundary alert or abattery low alert, may be downloaded to the badge so that the particularbadge currently assigned to the user will operate according to theuser's badge operation preferences. The assignment also causes any textmessages that had been previously stored in the badge to be cleared, andany text messages available for the user to whom the badge is assignedto be downloaded automatically. From the user's point of view, hismessages “follow” him. If a badge becomes unassigned (via one of themethods described below), the messages are cleared. Following aredescriptions of the different methods of assigning and un-assigningbadges:

Assignment/Unassignment through the Browser Application

A badge can be assigned by explicitly entering its ID in the Badge IDfield of the Basic Information Page. If the badge was previouslyassigned to a different user, a warning message is issued. The badge canbe unassigned simply by clearing the field, or by reassigning its ID toa different user.

Assignment on First Use

If the badge is unassigned at the time the Genie is hailed, the Geniewill greet the user and ask the user to say his name. If the name isrecognized, the badge will then be assigned to the user. Note that theassignment will work only if the user had been previously registered inthe system. The assignment may also be predicated on a successful matchof the voiceprint of the user, using the verification feature of thespeech recognition system.

Assignment/Unassignment by Voice Command

At any time, the badge can be reassigned dynamically using the “Log On”voice command. Once again, the reassignment will work only if the userhas been previously registered in the system. And once again, ifvoiceprints are used, a successful match is required. Badges can beunassigned using the “Log Off” voice command. Note that in each case,the bearer of the badge must first be registered with the system (or beregistered by the administrator) before the badge can be assigned tohim. In cases where visitors may be provided with a badge to be usedtemporarily, it may be useful for the administrator to register a few“Guest” users (the registration process only takes a moment) and assignguest badges to them. If desired, the spoken name of the guest can beentered through the user console, so that other users can hail him byname as opposed to an appellation such as “Guest Three”. Now, theoperating states of the communications badge in accordance with theinvention will be described.

FIG. 8B is a state diagram 170 illustrating the preferred operatingstates of a communications badge in accordance with the invention. Theoperating states may include an off state 172 in which the badge is notoperational and a ready state 173 in which the badge is ready to be usedbut in not currently being used for any purpose. The states may furtherinclude a hail genie state 174 as described below, a call state 176 asdescribed below with reference to FIG. 10, a do not disturb state 178 asdescribed below and an out of range state 180 when the badge is notwithin the network neighborhood.

To move from the off state to the ready state, the badge is activatedand to move back to the off state, the badge is deactivated. When theuser wishes to initiate a call or other interaction with the server 36(i.e., the Genie), he must explicitly activate the badge by pressing theactivate button. Note that for reasons of power conservation and otherresource constraints, the voice recognition server cannot be listeningall the time—one cannot wake it up simply by uttering some magic word.Moreover, it is quite important that a user understand when themicrophone is active and when it is not. For these reasons, explicitactivation is used to initiate an interaction. A badge may, however, beactivated automatically as a result of an incoming call from some otherparty. Automatic activation requires that the badge be powered on at thetime.

Upon activation, a sound prompt called an earcon is played alerting theuser to the fact that the Genie is now listening. The earcon is afunction of the Genie persona configured in the browser application. Ifactivation is unsuccessful because the user is not currently within thenetwork neighborhood, a prompt is played informing the user. Once theGenie earcon is played, the user can interact with the server throughvoice commands. Command dialogs other than those that result in theestablishment of a conversation with other people are automaticallyterminated by the Genie. The Genie will simply say “Good Bye”, or somesuch, and the user will not need to take any further action.

If the interaction with the Genie results in the establishment of aconversation with other people, the Genie bows out and the parties areleft to converse. No further pushbutton action is likely to be neededuntil one of the parties wishes to disconnect. This is done with anotherpress of the activate button, which causes the badge to revert back tothe standby state. Disconnection occurs without having to explicitlypress the activate button in each of the following circumstances: In thecase where a call is in progress, and all other parties to the calldisconnect, the remaining party is automatically disconnected withouthaving to press the button. In the event that the radio link failsbecause the user wanders outside coverage of the network for more than aseveral seconds grace period, disconnection occurs. Disconnection isalways accompanied by a prompt informing the user as to what happened.

Note that a press action is used to initiate a call, and apress-and-hold action is used to explicitly disconnect. More generally,the press action is always used as a positive or initiating action,whereas press-and-hold is always used as a negative, or cancelingaction. Press is used not only to initiate a session with the Genie, butalso to accept an incoming call, to save a message or greeting that isbeing recorded, and other affirmative actions. Press-and-hold, on theother hand, is used not only to terminate a call, but also to reject anincoming call, and to cancel the record or play of a message or greetingin progress.

Using a simple positive/negative semantic rule for these actions notonly makes it easier and more intuitive to use the system, but alsomakes it possible to respect a design principle requiring that the samecommand action be used to achieve a particular result across allcontexts. So for example, if pressing the activate button again (asopposed to pressing-and-holding) were used to terminate a call, then themeans used to hail the Genie or accept an incoming call would need tochange depending on whether or not a call was in progress. This wouldlikely result in users inadvertently disconnecting their call when theywere expecting to hail the Genie.

Placing a Call on Hold

During the course of a call, a user may be approached by other peoplewho may not be aware that a conversation is in progress. Conversely, theuser may wish to consult privately with someone else in the room. Insuch cases, it is desirable to be able to place the current call on holdquickly and easily. A hold button is conveniently located at the top ofthe unit for this purpose. To place an ongoing call on hold, the usersimply presses the hold button. A verbal prompt announces that the callis being placed on hold, and the hold button illuminates. The otherparty to the conversation, for his part, hears a prompt politely askinghim to hold. In the case of a conference call, however, the remainingparties hear a tone warning them that a party has left the conversation,but can continue to talk. Similarly, if a conference is rejoined, theremaining parties hear a tone warning them that another party hasentered the conversation. Having placed the call on hold, the user canno longer hear nor be heard by the other party.

To return to the conversation, one simply presses the hold button asecond time. He will then hear a prompt confirming that he is rejoiningthe call. The holding party is similarly notified, and the callcontinues. While a call is on hold, the user may wish to hail the Genieby pressing the activate button. A description of what transpires inthat case is given in the section labeled Hailing the Genie below. Notethat if the original call is disconnected for some reason in themeantime (because, for example, the other party disconnected, or theuser who placed the call on hold wandered outside the networkneighborhood), then the hold mode is terminated, and the disconnectprompt is played.

Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Mode

If pressed while no call is in progress, the hold button places thebadge in a mode in which all calls are blocked. The hold button blinksto signal the mode. This feature provides a quick and silent method fora user who is entering a meeting, for example, to insure that he willnot be disturbed. The semantics are similar to the BlockAll Callsscreening mode. Thus, buddies with VIP status will still be able toreach the user in the event of an emergency. The mode can later be leftby pressing the hold button a second time, or by pressing the activatebutton to activate the badge. In principle, one could allow DND mode tocontinue even if the badge is activated. This would clash with the useof the button to place calls on hold, and would require differentinteractions for Hold and DND, thereby complicating the use of thebutton. Since activating the badge likely means that the user is now outof his meeting, it is probably acceptable that this action ends the DNDmode.

Hailing the Genie

As described earlier, pressing the activate button while the badge isinactive summons the Genie. If the dialog with the Genie results in thesuccessful establishment of a connection with another party or parties,the Genie bows out of the conversation and the speech recognition portthen becomes free to serve a different user. The user may wish, however,to regain the attention of the Genie in the midst of theconversation—for example, for the purpose of conferencing in anotherparty. To hail the Genie without terminating the current call, the userplaces the current call on hold, and then presses the activate buttonagain. This action will invoke the Genie. Once the interaction with theGenie has concluded, the user will rejoin the conversation in progressautomatically. The user can terminate interaction with the Genie (andrejoining the call on hold) at any time by pressing the activate button,or by uttering the “Good Bye” voice command. The case in which the userinitiates another call while the first call is on hold is describedmomentarily. Now, the Genie commands will be described in more detail.

Genie Commands

The design of the voice command system is such as to strike anappropriate balance between flexibility of expression, on the one hand,and predictability on the other. Another balance to be struck is thatbetween economy of expression and ease of learning. Given that theapplication is used every day, elaborate dialogs and confirmationprotocols for frequently used commands are to be avoided. To accommodatethe learning process while retaining economy of expression, both averbose learning mode and a less prolix high efficiency mode aresupported, and are selectable from the User Console.

-   -   Command Syntax

For the most part, voice commands have a simple “verb object” structure.For example, “Call John Smith” is typical. Commands keywords for themost common commands may have synonyms. For example, instead of “CallJohn Smith”, one could say “Get me John Smith”, or “Find John Smith”.

-   -   Noise Words

Certain “noise” and “hesitation” words may be used as well. One mightsay, for example, “Um, Vocera, please get me John Smith”. Naturally,there are limits to the tolerance for variations. The system may notrecognize “Where the **** is John Smith!!”.

-   -   Name Arguments

In general, commands that include user names and group names asarguments to respond to one of the spoken names registered for that useror group in the browser application. However, if the party in questionis included on the buddy list of the caller, the nickname listed forthat buddy may be used instead. Spoken names and buddy nicknames may notbe unique. In the event of ambiguity, the Genie will ask the user whichof the possibilities he means by playing back the spoken name recordedfor each possibility. If two users have exactly the same full name, theidentifying phrase set in the Basic Information page of the browserapplication can be used to disambiguate. Most commands that take namearguments allow up to three names to be cited. In this case, the namesmust be separated by “and”, as in “John and Mary”, or “John Jones andMary Bush and Jim Smith”. Group names may be used as well, as in “Leavea message for John and Tech Support.” If the Genie has troublerecognizing the name or names spoken in a command, it may ask the userto choose among the most likely possibilities.

Recording of Name Prompts

Individual users, groups, identifying phrases, and access pointlocations can have associated sound files that are played by the Geniein course of a dialog. A set of voice commands is provided to enablerecording of these prompts. In case the prompt associated with aparticular entity is missing, TTS (text-to-speech) is used instead.Because the state-of-the-art of TTS synthesis, especially in the case ofnames, is less than perfect, users and system administrators should beencouraged to record names for most purposes.

Universal Commands

Universal commands are those that can be uttered whenever the Genie islistening. The following universals are supported:

Help—This command calls for context-sensitive help, including thepossibility of interaction with a human technical support agent at thewireless communications system.

Cancel—This command cancels the current command.

Quit—The command deactivates the badge.

Goodbye—terminates interaction with the Genie.

Emergency—This command, after confirming, calls “9-1-1”.

Barge-In

“Barge-in” refers to the ability for a user to break in with a commandwhile the Genie is playing a response, without having to wait for theprompt to complete. Barge-in will be supported to the extent possible.Now, the calling and message features of the system will be described.

The system supports a number of calling modes and features, includingmulti-party calls, conferencing, call waiting, call forwarding, and calltransfers. A number of messaging features are provided as well,including voice message broadcast, and text messaging. Features are alsoincluded that allow the current location of users to be determined. Adescriptions of these various functions in the form of scenarios,starting with basic calling, and progressing through more advancedcalling features, messaging, and location will now be described. Inparticular, a badge to badge communications session and then the othercall states will be described in more detail.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method 190 for performing a badgeto badge communications session in accordance with the invention. Instep 192, the calling party (let's call her Mary) initiates the call bypressing the activate button to summon the Genie. Upon hearing the Genieprompt, she issues a command in step 194, such as, “Call John Smith”, or“Get me John Smith”, where John Smith is the spoken name of the calledparty. If John Smith is on the caller's buddy list, John's nickname canbe used instead: “Get Jack”. The Genie confirms the command by replying,“Finding John Smith . . . ” wherein the “John Smith” part is played inJohn's own voice. If the server incorrectly recognizes John's name(“Finding Joan Smith . . . ”), Mary can simply say, “Cancel” and reissuethe Call command.

In step 196, the server 36 (using the user database) determines if therecipient is available. If the recipient is not available (e.g., If Johnis outside the network neighborhood or is currently blocking calls fromMary), the response in step 198 depends on the setting of John'sUnanswered Call options. If John has specified a forwarding method (asshown in step 200), the call is automatically routed using that method;if John has specified one of the message recording options, Mary isasked whether she wants to leave a message (in step 202). Otherwise,Mary is told that John is unavailable but will be immediately notifiedof her call. The transaction ends, and Mary's badge is automaticallydeactivated.

Returning to step 196, assuming that John is currently available, andthat calls from Mary are not blocked, John's badge signals an incomingcall in the manner determined by his Call Announcement Method setting instep 204. In addition, Mary's name flashes on the LCD display. If Johnhas set the Auto Answer option, the call is put through immediately.Otherwise, he accepts or rejects the call either verbally (e.g.,“Accept”), or using the activate button (press to accept, press and holdto reject). John can also reject implicitly simply by doing nothing.Finally, he may decide to reject, but send a message back to Mary (“TellMary . . . ”). If the call is accepted in step 206, the conversationbetween Mary and John begins in step 208 and the Genie drops out of theloop. If either party needs Genie services during the conversation, theGenie can be hailed by putting the current call on hold and pressing theactivate button as described earlier. Either Mary or John can terminatethe call by pressing and holding the activate button, causing bothbadges to be deactivated. If the call is rejected, John's badgeautomatically deactivates. If John used the “Tell” command to leave Marya message, that message in step 202 is played back to Mary. What happensnext on Mary's side depends on the setting of John's Call Forwardingoptions, as described above. As a shortcut, the call command can also beinvoked simply by uttering the name of the called party without anyverb. For example, Mary could simply say, “John Smith”, rather than “Getme John Smith.”

A badge to badge communications session may be viewed as a peer to peercommunication. Normally, a badge will not compress the voice data beingsent to the server 36 so that the quality of the voice commands to thevoice recognition system are not degraded. However, if a badge-to-badgecommunications session is occurring, both badges will in fact compressthe voice data to the other badge in order to reduce the amount of databeing communicated between the two badges. If the Genie is communicatingto the badge, the data will also be compressed. Now, the one or moredifferent call states in accordance with the invention will be describedin more detail.

FIG. 10 is a state diagram illustrating the preferred call states of thewireless communications system. The system supports a number of callingmodes and features, including multi-party calls, on-the-flyconferencing, call waiting, message broadcast, and calls to and from thePSTN (public switched telephone network). The states may include a readystate 220 in which a call may begin, a test message state 222, aninbound call state 224, a voice broadcast state 226, an outside callstate 228, a who called state 230, a conference call state 232, a badgeto badge call state 234 as described above including a call waitingstate 236, a call group state 238 and a voice e-mail state 240. Now,various of these call states will be described in more detail.

Conference Call State

If Mary wishes to initiate a conference call with Jim and John, shesimply says, “Call Jim and John.” The two parties will be called andconferenced together to create a three-party conversation. Conferencesof up to four parties can be created in this way (“Call Jim, John, andSam”). The interaction for conference calls differs from that for astraight two-party call in the following ways:

Parties that join a conference in session are alerted to that fact via atone prompt;

Each new party is announced with a tone, alerting the others; and

If a party is unavailable, he is simply not included; forwarding ofcalls to voicemail, and other Unanswered Call options are inhibited.

A conference can also be initiated by adding parties to an ongoingconversation. If for example, Mary wishes to bring Jim into herconversation with John, she hails the Genie (by putting John on hold),and says, “Call Jim Jones” in the usual manner. Once she reaches Jim,she simply presses the hold button again. At this point, the Genie willask if she wants to merge the two calls. If she answers “Yes”, the threeparties are now engaged. Note that if Mary just wanted to ask Jim aquestion, she could disconnect after speaking to Jim (by pressing theactivate button), and would then be back to the original conversation.Note that if Jim were not available, the call to him would be forwardedin the normal way, or Mary could leave a message in the normal way.

Blind conferencing is even easier. Mary simply hails the Genie and says,“Invite Jim”. The Genie acknowledges, and without further ado, Mary isback talking to John. Behind the scenes, the Genie calls up Jim much inthe same manner as would have been the case had Mary called both Jim andJohn in the first place. Assuming Jim is reachable, he joins theconversation and tone prompts are played to the various partiesapprising them of that fact. The interaction is said to be blind becauseMary loses control of what happens if Jim is not reachable, and is alsounable to have a private chat with Jim prior to Jim's joining theconversation. The ability to exercise this control is sacrificed for thegreater efficiency of the command. If, in the future, it is determinedthat conferences with greater numbers of parties are needed, a specialhalf-duplex conferencing feature can be added to accommodate this.

Call Waiting State

If, in the Badge-to-Badge scenario described earlier, John is alreadyengaged in a conversation with another party, he will be alerted toMary's call with an audible call waiting signal. In addition, Mary'sname will be displayed on the LCD, and the LED will blink fast as withany incoming call. If John wishes to accept the call from Mary, hepresses the activate button. He will then be speaking to Mary, and hiscurrent call will be placed on hold. When he is done speaking with Mary,he disconnects in the usual way (by pressing the activate button), andwill then be back to the original call. The same thing happens if Maryexplicitly disconnects. John can have Mary conferenced into his originalconversation. To do so, he simply hails the Genie (by pressing theactivate button as usual).

Call Transfer State

Call transfer allows an incoming call to be redirected to a differentbadge or outside number. Calls can be transferred in either a supervisedor a blind manner. Supervised transfer is done simply by conferencing inthe third party, and then bowing out of the conference. Suppose, forexample, that John calls Mary, who then wishes to redirect the call toJim. Mary puts John on old and hails the Genie in the usual way. Shethen attempts to call Jim. Assuming the call succeeds, she presses thehold button to join the three parties together, bids her fair well, andthen presses and holds to disconnect. The two remaining parties are leftto their own devices. If, of course, the attempt to reach Jim fails,Mary is back to talking to John. Note that all this works becauseMary—the middleman—can leave the conversation without terminating it.The same does not work with the typical telephone conferencing featureprobably because no one is left to pay the toll for the path betweenMary and Jim.

Blind transfer is more abbreviated. Mary hails the Genie and says,“Transfer to Jim.” At this point, she is out of the loop, and the callproceeds very much as if John had called Jim directly in the firstplace. Blind transfer is less trouble for Mary, but makes it impossiblefor Mary to introduce John to Jim, or to help John if Jim can't bereached. A special transfer command, “Transfer to Voice Mail”, may beprovided as well.

Calls to a Member of a Group State

It is often useful to be able to call someone by function or titlerather than by name. For example, Mary may need Tech Support, but notknow (nor care) who is currently managing the help desk—she simply wantsto be able to say “Get me Tech Support”. The effect is easilyaccomplished by defining “Tech Support” as a group, and by designatingone or more people as the members of the group. The Tech Supportmanager, might, for example, set up this group.

In many situations, the group might have only a single member. In thiscase, the group name serves as an alias for the person who is currentlyresponsible for answering calls for the group. If the group has morethan one member, the incoming call will be routed to the first person onthe list who is available. In this way, alternates can back up theprimary group representative. If the group has more than one member, thesystem will attempt to find the first member of the group who isavailable according to a scheduling algorithm that is specified in thegroup definition. See the Groups Page description in an earlier sectionfor details.

Recording a Greeting

With the “Record Greeting” voice command, a user can record a messagethat will be played to callers who unsuccessfully attempts to call. Torecord a greeting, Mary invokes the Genie and says “Record Greeting.”The Genie then prompts Mary to begin recording. When finished, Marypresses the activate button to indicate that she is done. She is thenasked to confirm that she wishes to keep the greeting. She can alsoexplicitly cancel the greeting while it is being recorded by pressingand holding. The greeting can later be erased (using the “EraseGreeting” voice command) or rerecorded.

Who called? State

The “Who called?” voice command can be used to learn of parties whotried unsuccessfully to reach the user or left a message. After she isdone with a meeting, for example, Mary might hail the Genie and asked“Who called?” The Genie might reply, “John, Sam Spade, and Mom called”or the Genie might reply, “You had a call from Mom and a message fromJohn Brookes”. Note that calls that a user misses for any reason aresignaled on the LCD display even when the user is currently outside thenetwork neighborhood. The “Who called” command is a quick way to getthis information without having to manipulate the display. The “WhoCalled?” command can be automatically executed when the user activateshis badge by setting the “Auto Who Called?” option in the User Console.

Voice Message Broadcasts State

This feature affords a means by which users can send recorded voicemessages to one or more recipients. The most obvious uses of thisfeature are leaving a message for someone who is not currently availableto speak, or to broadcast a message to a group. However, sending amessage is also very useful when one doesn't have time for a call, butwants to quickly communicate a thought and get on with one's business.

The messaging is, in any case, a real-time communication mechanism—themoment a message is recorded, the system attempts to deliver the messageto all messaged parties. Suppose, for example, that Mary wishes to leavea message for John, and for everyone on the Blowtorch team. She hailsthe Genie and says, “Send a message to John and The Blowtorch Team”. TheGenie then prompts her for a message (“Please record a message at thebeep. Press the activate button when done.”) Mary articulates themessage, then either just stops talking or presses the activate button.The system will then ask for a confirmation (“Shall I send thismessage?”), and assuming the user agrees, sends the message. Havingrecorded the message, the system will immediately call each targeteduser and play it back. Users that cannot be reached (because they areaway from the network, or have blocked the call) are notifiedimmediately upon becoming available. A user can then play back themessage using the Play Messages command.

Note that the use of groups in this case has a different semantic thanthat for calls. If one says “Call Tech Support”, at most one TechSupport person is called; if one says “Send Message to The BlowtorchTeam”, a message is broadcast to every member of the team. Naturally,calling a large group of people at once is challenging and the systemonly supports conferences with at most four participants anyway.

Messages that have been played are automatically deleted after a certainduration that can be configured from the System Options page of theadministration application. A user can replay old messages any timeprior to their deletion using the Play Old Messages variant of the PlayMessages command. Messages will be played in most-recent-first order,with urgent messages played before non-urgent ones.

During the play of a message, a user may issue any of the followingbarge-in commands:

-   -   Save This command will inhibit deletion of the message until it        is explicitly deleted using the Delete command below.

Delete—Deletes the message immediately.

Repeat—Plays the message again.

Next—Skips to next message.

A voice message can be marked as urgent, as in “Send urgent message toJohn Smith”. In this case, assuming that the sender has VIP status, oris a VIP buddy of the recipient, message delivery will be attempted evenif the recipient has a call in progress, or if it would otherwise beblocked.

Voice E-Mail State

This feature allows a user to send an e-mail with a voice attachment tothe e-mail address of another user or users (or to outsiders on thebuddy list). The interaction works similarly to Voice MessageBroadcasts, except that the command is “Send e-mail . . . ” rather than“Send message.

Outbound Calls State

Calls can be placed through the public phone system using the Dialcommand. For example, Mary might hail the Genie and say, “Dial area codesix-five-oh eight-five-one-two-two-three-four”. If an outsider has beenset up as a buddy, a buddy name can be provided (“Call Mom”) instead.Note that unanswered calls can also be forwarded to outside numbers (seeUnanswered Call options above).

Inbound Calls State

Calls can also be accepted from the public phone system. In this case,the caller dials a phone number that reaches the system inside thecustomer premises (perhaps an extension on the customer PBX). The calleris then played a greeting, and is prompted by the system to say the nameof the user to whom he wishes to connect. If caller id is not provided,the caller is also asked to identify himself (“Who may I ask iscalling?) This information allows the called user to be prompted withthe name of the caller, and allows the system to recognize the caller asa buddy. The call is then routed much in the same way it would were itto have been originated internally.

The caller can also enter the user's numeric identifier, such as an deskextension number, on the telephone keypad rather than pronouncing theuser's name. To accomplish this mapping from the extension to the user,the system may first map the digit sequence to a user and then map theuser name to the currently assigned IP address based on the user profiledatabase.

Remote Dial-In State

This feature makes it possible for a user to treat his cell phone, forexample, as if it were a badge. The user dials the system, as in thecase of inbound calls. (The number would typically be set up as aspeed-dial number.) Using caller id, the system recognizes the identityof the user, and hails the Genie. The user can now interact with theGenie in the usual manner. Pressing a key on the cell phone simulatesthe action of the activate button.

Text Messaging State

The text messaging feature makes it possible for badges to receive,store, and display text messages from a number of originating sources.Such messages might be sent by other users, but could also be sentautomatically (such as by a nurse call center system), or in response toa future voice command queries of a database. For example, a user mightask for the detailed description and price of an item with a certainpart number, or the medical history of a certain patient. The responseto the query could then be displayed on the screen of the badge.

The system will support these various applications using e-mail andpossibly instant messaging as a transport mechanism. The server 36 hostsa POP3/IMAP mail client that serves as a forwarding mechanism formessages addressed to particular users. A standardized addressconvention is used for this purpose, based on the login name of theuser. For example, to send a message to Julie's badge at Home Depot, onewould simply address an e-mail to vocera@homedepot.com with “julie”(Julie's login name) as the subject of the e-mail.

When a message is received on the server, it is immediately downloadedto the target badge. If the badge is not currently within the networkneighborhood, the download occurs the next time the badge reenters theneighborhood. Upon receipt on the badge, a tone is played to announcethe arrival of the message. In addition, the status LED blinks toindicate that a message is pending. New and old stored messages can beaccessed at any time through the badge menu system, as described indetail in a later section. Because the messages are stored locally inflash memory, they can be perused even when the badge is outside thenetwork neighborhood. The local message store will have sufficientcapacity to store at least twenty 200-character messages. When thecapacity of the store is exhausted, old messages are automaticallydeleted in the order in which they arrived. If the badge is logged out,the message store is automatically erased for privacy reasons.Similarly, upon assignment to a different user, the messages for thatuser are automatically downloaded to it.

Missed Call Notifications State

When an incoming call is missed, either because the user is currentlyoutside the network neighborhood, or has blocked or rejected a call, atext record of the missed call is sent to the badge. If the user isoutside the network, the record is sent though the paging service;otherwise it is sent through the network. The record consists of thedate/timestamp of the call, as well as the name or caller id (ifdeterminable) of the caller. It is accessible through the Messagesscreen selectable through the badge menu system.

Predefined (“Canned”) Replies State

A message replies that have been pre-specified in the User Console(e.g., “Yes”, “No”, “OK”, “Call you later”) can be originated through abadge menu selection. This feature makes it possible to respond silentlyto a call or text message received while in a meeting, and provides someof the functionality offered by two-way pagers. The user selects theincoming message in question from the Message List accessible from theMain badge menu, and chooses “Reply” from the pop-up menu. He is thenpresented with a submenu listing the various predefined responses, fromwhich he selects one.

Voice-to-Text State

This feature permits voice messages to be transliterated to text andsent to a user's badge either through the network or through the pagingservice. The voice-to-Text could be implemented either completelyautomatically (using dictation speech recognition software) or manuallyusing a behind-the-scenes human service. The feature is accessed througha voice command. The user would hail the Genie and say “Send TextMessage”. He would then be prompted for the message (much in the mannerof Voice Message Broadcasts), which would then be sent out. If theVoice-to-Text option is selected in the User Console as an UnansweredCall option, a caller could be prompted automatically for a message ifthe target user is not available. Now, a method for locating a user of abadge in accordance with the invention will be described in more detail.

Automatic Location of Users

The system provides a way to determine whether or not a user iscurrently within the network neighborhood and to pinpoint hiswhereabouts (within the resolution of an access point) in the event thathe is within the network neighborhood. To accomplish this user location,a “Locate Enabled” option must be enabled on the system options page ofthe administrator application described above. The location ability alsorequires that the access points be identified with designations thatwill be meaningful to users—for example, “Building C, 2 ^(nd) Floor,Left Wing”. The system may include the ability for the systemadministrator to configure the access point designators using the accesspoint locations page of the browser application described above. Thesystem may also provide two voice location commands. One command permitsthe user to ask the system to determine the location of a particularuser and the other command permits the user to ask the system todetermine the user within a named group that is closest to a givenlocation (e.g., I need a tech support person who is near my location).The following are examples of the use of these commands:

User: “Where is Jim Jones?”

Genie: “Jim Jones is in Building C, 2^(nd) Floor, Right Wing

User: “Where is Mary?”

Genie: “Mary is currently on the Santa Clara campus in the Cafeteria”

User: “Where is Mary?”

Genie: “Mary is currently off campus.”

User: “Who in Tech Support is in Building C?”

Genie: “Brad Jones and Jerry Peters are in Building C”

User: “Where is the closest Tech Support agent?”

Genie: “Brad Jones . . . ”

Now, the telephone integration of the wireless communications system inaccordance with the invention will be described in more detail.

A principle design goal of the wireless communications system isintegration with the customer's telephone and voice mail systems in amanner that is as seamless as possible. By “seamless”, we mean that thefunctionality enjoyed by badge users in badge-to-badge communication isalso available—and works in exactly the same way—when some or all of theparticipants connect to the system through an ordinary telephone.Seamless integration also entails that the customer's voice mail system,if any, is accessible smoothly.

Seamless integration is difficult to attain not only because of theintrinsic differences between phones and badges, but also because PBXand key telephone systems—especially digital ones—are not wellstandardized; nor do there exist standard control interfaces to voicemail systems. Worse, individual vendors typically do not publish theirproprietary API's. These difficulties are compounded by the lack of asingle main supplier. Fortunately, the majority of interoperabilityfeatures one could imagine supporting can be implemented by connectingto the customer's telephone equipment through standard analog (POTS)lines. Telephone system vendors offer modules that can be installed intheir key or PBX systems that provide some number of analog ports. Thehardware aspects of this feature are described above with reference toFIG. 6.

The telephony integration may include incoming calls and outgoing calls.In particular, calls originating from the outside are placed to a phonenumber dedicated to the wireless communications system. Depending on thecustomer's system, the number might be a PBX extension, or a directlydialed number. The wireless communications system number will typicallybe set up as part of a hunt group, allowing a single phone number orextension to support multiple lines. The incoming call is greeted with avoice dialog in which the caller is asked to say the name, oralternatively, to enter an extension number, of the user to whom thecall is to be routed. The call is then handled much in the same manneras would be the case were the call placed from a badge. Note, however,that the initial interaction needs to be more regimented, because thecaller cannot be assumed to be a user of the system. In particular, thecaller is limited to contacting another user.

It may be useful to provide a special pass code that the caller couldenter (via the telephone keypad) to reach the usual Genie. He wouldfirst be asked to speak his own name; assuming it was recognized, hewould then hear the Genie prompt as if he had hailed the Genie from hisbadge. If Caller ID identified the source number as the cell phonenumber of the user, for example, the pass code and initial dialog couldbe bypassed altogether. This would enable a user to reach the Genie witha single press of a speed-dial button on his cell phone. From the pointof view of the user receiving the call, it is very much as if the calloriginated from another badge. In particular, all of the followingfeatures are supported, in all of variations that are normallyavailable:

Call Forwarding

Leaving a Message

Call Transfer

Call Waiting

Conferencing

Hold

Conferencing Additional Parties

Caller ID (when available)

For an outgoing telephone call from the wireless communications system,calls can be placed through the public phone system using the “Dial”voice command. For example, Mary might hail the Genie and say, “Dialarea code six-five-oh eight-five-one-two-two-three-four”. If an outsiderhas been set up as a buddy, a buddy name could be provided to the “Call”command, as in, “Call Mom”. Supported features include most of thoseavailable when calling another badge:

Call Transfer

Call Waiting

Conferencing

Hold

Conferencing Additional Parties

In some customer environments, it is desirable to restrict placement ofoutgoing calls to certain privileged users, such as managers. Selectiveenabling of outside calling is available from the User Administrationpage of the administration application. Now, the display unit on thebadge will be described in more detail.

The LCD display on the back of the badge displays incoming callinformation, messages, and status information of various kinds. Thedisplay is manipulated through a menu system controlled by the group ofthree pushbuttons at one edge of the badge. These will be referred to asthe up button (topmost), the down button (lowermost), and select button(middle). The function of the outer two is context dependent. When aconversation is in progress, they control speaker volume; when menus areactive, they provide scroll up and scroll down functions. The middlebutton is used to make menu selections from the display. Through themenu system, a user can set the speaker volume level, peruse textmessages, power the badge off, and examine various attributes of thebadge, such as its ID number. The functions of the display and theassociated controls depends on which mode the badge is in at the time aswill now be described in more detail.

Powered Off

In this mode, the unit is completely inactive, and the display is blank.Pressing the activate button at this point brings the badge back tolife, displays a welcome message, “Hello, Dave”, and enters StandbyMode. The unit can be restored to the Power Off mode via a menuselection.

Standby Mode

The Standby mode is one in which the unit is powered on, but noconversation is active, and in which the user is not currentlyinteracting with the menus. The display shows the Home screen, whichexhibits the name of the user to whom the badge is currently assigned.Status icons at the top of the screen show battery level, signalstrength (if currently within the network neighborhood), and anindication of the presence of new (i.e., unread) messages. The user cantransition to Active mode by pressing the activate button to hail theGenie (if currently within the network neighborhood). Similarly, atransition is made to Active mode in the event of an incoming call.Pressing any of the select, up or down buttons effects a transition toMenu mode.

Activated Mode

In this mode, a conversation is taking place either with the Genie orwith other parties. The display continues to show the Home screen, andthe screen flashes the name of the calling party (or “Vocera”, ifspeaking to the Genie). Pressing the up or down buttons in this modeadjusts the volume level correspondingly. The display shows a graphicindicating the new level momentarily. Pressing the select button in thismode effects a transition to menu mode, thus allowing interaction withthe menus (to peruse a message, for example) while a conversation is inprogress. When the conversation ends (because, for example, the userpresses the activate button), the badge reverts to Standby mode.

Menu Mode

In this mode, the user can interact with the LCD display for variouspurposes. The menu mode is entered by pressing either the up or the downbutton when in the Standby mode. The mode is not available while a callis in progress; instead, pressing the up or down buttons while in Activemode directly controls volume. Once in Menu mode, the various menufunctions can be navigated and selected by means of the up, down, andselect buttons. The mode can end in a number of ways. First, apress-and-hold of the select button will always return the badge toStandby. Menu mode may also end as a result of the initiation of a call(by pressing the activate button) or in the event of an incoming call.The badge may also return to Standby by virtue of certain menuselections. For example, if the select button is pressed while lookingat the Info screen, it is assumed that the user is done examining thatscreen and the badge returns to Standby. Now, an example of a preferredmenu organization in accordance with the invention will be described.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a preferred menu organization for thebadge in accordance with the invention. In particular, the menu mayinclude a home screen 300, a messages screen 302, a volume screen 304, apower off screen 306 and an info screen 308 as shown. The menu functionsare accessed from a set of four selection screens, each of which has atext label and an icon suggesting the function that appear on thedisplay. Initially, the user is presented with the home screen 300 and auser can navigate through these selection screens by pressing the up anddown buttons on the badge. In a preferred embodiment, the visual effectis that of rotating through them as if they were arranged on a wheel. Bynavigating past the last screen in the rotation, one comes back to theHome screen as shown in FIG. 11. If one uses, say, the down buttonrather than the up button, the screens are traversed in the reverseorder. Once the selection screen of interest is in view, the user pushesthe select button to make the choice. What happens next depends on theselected function.

The message screen 302 may be selected and a scrolled list of subjectlines are displayed to the user (shown as the message list 310 whichdisplays each message text 312 as shown). Each line displays the subjectof a message, preceded by an icon indicating whether the message is new(i.e., unread). If the subject is too long to fit on the line, it issimply truncated. The user navigates the list of subjects using the upand down buttons (causing each line to be highlighted in reverse videoin a preferred embodiment), and selects a message to be displayed withthe select button. The displayed message is headed by a Date line, aFrom line, and a Subject line. The Date line gives the date and time themessage was received; the From line gives return address of the message,if known. The Subject line gives the full text of the subject. Themessage body itself then follows the header as is well known. The usercan scroll though the displayed message using the up and down buttons.Note that the header lines are part of the scrolled text, and so may beword-wrapped if long enough to exceed the number of characters(approximately 14) that may be shown on a single line. When the user hasfinished examining the message, he can press the select button to returnto the subject list, and choose another message to read. Alternatively,he can press and hold the button to return to Standby mode.

If the user presses the select button while viewing a message, a pop-upmenu is displayed showing the following options:

Delete—This selection brings up a confirmation submenu prompting theuser to confirm the deletion (“Delete” or “Cancel”). If confirmed, themessage is deleted and the message list is redisplayed. Note that if auser has elected the “Save Messages” option in the User Console, themessage will be “beamed up” to the server and archived whether it isdeleted or not.

Reply—This selection brings up a submenu allowing the user to reply tothe message with one of the Predefined Text Messages configured in theUser Console. The submenu has an item for each such message; dependingon the length of the message, it may show only the first severalcharacters. Selecting one of the items brings up a confirmation submenu(“Send” or “Cancel”). Selecting either of these displays a confirmmessage momentarily, then returns to the Message List.

Save—This selection archives the message so that it will not beautomatically deleted.

Cancel—Returns to the Main Menu.

Exit—Exits the menu system altogether.

The volume screen 304 may be selected and displays a screen with agraphic representation of the current speaker volume level in a volumecontrol page 314. By pressing the up and down buttons, the user canadjust the volume wherein each button press plays a tone to provideaudible feedback to the user of the currently set volume level. Thepress of the select button finalizes the interaction, and the badge isbrought back to Standby mode. The volume setting is retained in flashmemory so that it is retained even when power is not being supplied tothe badge.

The power off screen 306 blanks the display, and places the badge in alow power state. The badge can subsequently be turned back on simply bypressing the activate button. The powering down of the badge does notcause the loss of any settings or messages (since these are stored in anon-volatile memory) that may be stored in the badge. The info screen308 may be selected and displays a info screen 316 to the user showingvarious information about the badge.

Among the items shown are:

Badge IP Address

MAC address of the badge

Firmware version no.

Name of the network (Service Set ID)

Current Location (AP location name and MAC Address)

Radio Signal Quality

Name of Logged in User

Server IP Address

Each of the items of information is displayed full screen; the up anddown buttons move among the various items.

FIG. 12 is a the menu state transition table 320 which detailstransitions among the various menu states. A column 322 at the leftlists the various screens. The entries 324 to the right of each screenname give the screen transitioned to or action taken as a result ofpushing the various buttons represented across the top of the table(including the Up button, the Down button, the Select button and theSelect and Hold action). For example, starting from the Home screen, onearrives at the Info selection screen by pressing the down button.Entries shown in italics represent actions within the same screen (suchas Scroll Up which indicates that the action is to scroll up in thatscreen). The select and hold action always returns the display to theHome screen as shown. Now, a summary of the voice commands in apreferred embodiment of the system will be described.

This summary is a listing of the badge voice commands, together withexamples of use. In some cases, a command may have several syntacticvariations, including synonyms. In these cases, a representative (butnot necessarily complete) sampling of variations is given. Generallyspeaking, the number of synonyms a command has is proportional to itsfrequency of use. The Call command, for example, has several variants,as do “Yes” and “No” answers to confirmation dialogs. Unless otherwisenoted, it can be assumed that a command that takes the name of a user asan argument will also work if multiple names (or group names) areprovided.

-   -   Accept—Accepts calls from one or more parties.    -   “Accept all calls”    -   “Accept all calls from Jack”    -   “Accept all calls except from Marketing”    -   “Accept calls only from Marketing”    -   “Accept calls from Marketing only”    -   “Accept calls from everyone”    -   “Accept calls from buddies”    -   Add to Group—Dynamically adds a user to a group.    -   “Add me to Tech Support”    -   “Add me to group Tech Support”    -   Assign Location—Assigns the currently-associated access point to        a location    -   “Assign location ‘First Floor’”    -   Begin Tour—Begins access point location tour.    -   “Begin Tour”    -   Block—Blocks calls from one or more parties.    -   “Block all calls”    -   “Block all calls from Jack”    -   “Block all calls except from Marketing”    -   “Block calls only from Marketing”    -   “Block calls from Marketing only”    -   “Block calls from everyone”    -   “Block calls from buddies”    -   Call—Places a call to one or more parties.    -   “Call Mary”    -   “Find Mary”    -   “Get me Mary”    -   “Contact Mary”    -   “Call Mom”    -   Cancel (Universal)—Cancels current action.    -   “Cancel”    -   “Stop”    -   “Wait”    -   Conference—Conferences one or more parties.    -   “Conference Jack and Jill”    -   Delete—Deletes messages.    -   Dial—Dials a phone number    -   “Dial four-oh-eight seven-nine-oh-forty-one-hundred”    -   “Dial area code four-oh-eight seven-nine-oh-forty-one-hundred”    -   “Dial extension three-five-four”    -   “Dial nine-one-one”    -   “Phone nine-one-one”    -   End Tour—Ends access point location tour    -   “End Tour”    -   Erase Greeting—Erases current greeting.    -   “Erase greeting”    -   “Erase my greeting”    -   “Delete my greeting”    -   Forward—Forwards unanswered calls to a user, group, voicemail or        phone    -   “Forward calls to my desk phone”    -   “Forward calls to my cell phone”    -   “Forward calls to voicemail”    -   “Forward calls to my home phone”    -   “Forward calls to my home phone”    -   “Forward calls to Sandy Flores”    -   “Forward calls to extension 101”    -   Goodbye—Dismisses Genie    -   “Goodbye”    -   Help (Universal)—Offers help for the current voice command.    -   “Help!”    -   Invite—Invites a newcomer to an ongoing conversation    -   “Invite Joe Smith”    -   Learn Name—Trains the Genie on a particular name.    -   “Learn a Name.” The Genie then responds with “Spell the last        name of the person you would like me to learn . . . ”    -   Locate—Locates members of a group.    -   “Locate tech support reps in Building C”    -   “Locate the closest tech support agent”    -   Log Off-Un-assigns the badge.    -   “Log off”    -   “Log me out”    -   Log On—Assigns the badge to a user.    -   “Log me in as Mary Smith”    -   “Log me on as Mary Smith”    -   My Location Is—Binds access point location name.    -   “My location is Third Floor West Wing”    -   Play Greeting—Plays back previously-recorded greeting    -   “Play greeting”    -   “Play my greeting”    -   Play Messages—Plays messages left by other users.    -   “Play messages”    -   “Play old messages”    -   “Play messages from John”    -   “Play back my old messages from John”    -   Record E-Mail—Sends an e-mail with a voice message to one or        more users.    -   “Record e-mail for the Blowtorch team”    -   “Send e-mail to Jack”    -   Record Greeting—Records greeting for a given user.    -   “Record greeting”    -   “Record my greeting”    -   Record Message—Broadcasts a voice message to one or more users.    -   “Record a message for John”    -   “Send message to the John”    -   “Leave a message for John”    -   “Leave an urgent message for John”    -   “Message for John”    -   “Urgent message for John”    -   Record Name—Records a name prompt for a person, group or        location.    -   “Record my name”    -   “Record name for John Smith”    -   “Record name for Tech Support”    -   “Record name for the First Floor”    -   Remove from Group—Dynamically removes a user from a group.    -   “Remove me from Tech Support”    -   “Remove me from group Tech Support”    -   Stop Forwarding—Ends forwarding of unanswered calls.    -   “Stop Forwarding”    -   Transfer—Transfers current call to another user or to voice        mail.    -   “Transfer to John Smith”    -   “Transfer to voice mail”    -   What Groups—Lists groups to which member belongs    -   “What groups do I belong to?”    -   “What groups am I a member of!”    -   Where Is—Locates a user    -   “Where is Mary?”    -   “Find Mary”    -   Who Am I—Asks to which user the badge is assigned.    -   “Who am I?”    -   Who is in group—Asks to enumerate the members of a given group    -   “Who is in Tech Support?”    -   Where Am I—Asks for the user's current location.    -   “Where am I?”    -   Who Called—Asks who called or left a message.    -   “Who called?”    -   “Who called me?”    -   Who is in group?—Lists the members of a group    -   “Who is in Marketing?”    -   “Who is in group Tech Support?”    -   Who Is Blocked—Plays back names of users who are blocked    -   “Who is blocked?”

While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodimentof the invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined bythe appended claims.

1. A wireless communications system, comprising: a computer having avoice recognition unit; one or more access points connected to thecomputer by a network, each access point having a coverage area; adevice that is capable of communicating voice commands, using a wirelessprotocol with one of the access points adjacent the badge, to the voicerecognition unit; and wherein the badge further comprises an unassignedstate and an assigned state such that the badge is initially in theunassigned state when it has not been assigned to a user, the badgeenters the assigned state when the badge has been assigned to a userwhen the user first issues a voice command and the badge returns to theunassigned state when the user has finished using the badge so that thebadge is dynamically bound to the user while the user is using thebadge.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the badge is not assigned toany user of the system at all times and may be reused by any user of thesystem.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computer furthercomprises a user database having user profile data and messages for eachuser of the system, wherein the user profile data and messages for aparticular user are downloaded to the badge which has been assigned tothe particular user.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the user profiledata and messages for a particular user are deleted from the badgeassigned to the particular user when the badge returns to the unassignedstate.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computer furthercomprises a browser application which permits a user to interact withthe central computer and change a user profile database containing userprofile information, the browser application further comprising meansfor assigning a badge to a particular user by changing a badgeidentification field in the user database so that a particular badge isassigned to a particular user.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein thecentral computer further comprises a voice recognition system thatreceives voice commands from a user through the badge and wherein thebadge is assigned to a particular user when the user issues a “Log On”command from the badge to the voice recognition system.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the badge further comprises an automatic answer featurein which a call to the badge is capable of being answered without anyaction by a user of the badge.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein theuser database further comprises a group calling field containing a groupname wherein the group further comprises one or more people and whereinthe central computer further comprises a group calling command thatcauses the people in the group to be called by the central computersystem.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the user database furthercomprises a call screening field that contains information about whichcalls to a particular user are allowed so that calls to the badgeassigned to the particular user are prioritized.
 10. The system of claim9, wherein the call screening field further comprises a block all callsfield which specifies that all calls to the particular user will beblocked.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the call screening fieldfurther comprises an allow all calls field which specifies that allcalls to the particular user are being allowed to be answered at thebadge assigned to the user.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the callscreening field further comprises a VIP field containing one or morepersons that can override the block all calls.
 13. The system of claim1, wherein the user profile database further comprises a forwardingportion that contains information for the routing of a call to aparticular badge assigned to the particular user when the user is notaccepting calls to the badge.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein theforwarding portion further comprises a work phone field that specifies awork phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the forwarding portion further comprises ahome phone field that specifies a home phone to which a call to theparticular user may be routed.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein theforwarding portion further comprises a cellular phone field thatspecifies a cellular phone to which a call to the particular user may berouted.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein the user database furthercomprises a call receiving portion that contains information about thecall receiving options chosen by the particular user.
 18. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the user database further comprises a network boundaryalert field that specifies that the badge assigned to the particularuser will alert the user when the user leaves the coverage areas of theaccess points.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computerfurther comprises means for mapping an extension number to a user of thebadge wherein the mapping means further comprises means for mapping theextension number to a particular user and means for mapping theparticular user to a badge based on the user profile in the database.